Facebook opens its doors to retail sales

Posted Aug 6th 2009 2:30PM by Tom Johansmeyer
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Sears Holdings (SHLD), Technology

Ad-driven social networking website Facebook is looking for new sources and revenue. The site is allowing outside vendors to open storefronts, which opens Facebook to transaction fees (though it is not be charging them yet) ... and companies on Facebook to the wallets of its users. 1-800-Flowers (NASD: FLWS) is the first to try this approach, having opened for business last week.

Over the next two months, another 20+ stores are expected according to Wade Gerten, CEO of Alvenda, the company that built the storefront application. They will include "very large general merchandise retailers, and very large electronics retailers," according to a report in the Financial Times.

In addition to 1-800-Flowers, Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD) has limited Facebook e-commerce in place, and t-shirt retailer Threadless has made a shopping cart accessible via Facebook, but the transaction must be closed on its website.

Retailers hope that Facebook will be a goldmine, particularly as retail sales struggle. The social network has 250 million users and continues to grow rapidly. Every day, more than 120 million people log into the site – where they spend an aggregate 5 billion minutes daily. This is the brick-and-mortar equivalent of foot traffic, and it equates to having almost half the United States walk by your door.

Tags: Alvenda, Facebook, FLWRS, inthenews, SHLD