DailyTech - Facebook Begins Testing "Want" Button

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Internet Facebook Begins Testing "Want" Button
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - October 9, 2012 9:37 AM

27 comment(s) - last by inperfectdarkn.. on Oct 10 at 2:58 AM

Facebook heads into e-commerce

One of Facebook's most popular features is the “Like” button that has been around for a few years. The Like button allows users to publically display that they like posts or specific brands. Facebook is rolling out a new feature that is in testing right now that allows users to create wish lists of all sorts of products ranging from clothing to home furnishings and more.

Reuters reports that Facebook is working with seven retailers, including Pottery Barn and Victoria's Secret to test the feature. The “Want” button will allow users to flag images of products that they want to purchase.

"People will be able to engage with these collections and share things they are interested in with their friends. People can click through and buy these items off of Facebook," Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook is reportedly calling the feature Collections and it is believed to be a push to help link its billion users with external online stores.

Analyst Colin Sebastian said, "E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetize the Internet. Thinking about how large they are as a platform and how engaged people are, there are lots of levers they haven't pulled yet in terms of monetization."

Sebastian did indicate that there is potential for Facebook to earn a transaction fee for referring users to the external e-commerce sites. There's also a chance that retailers could pay Facebook to promote products that are featured in a user's wish list in a manner similar to that of Facebook's current ad offerings.

The Collections feature will eventually be offered to all U.S. users of Facebook.

Source: Reuters