Facebook adds new features in efforts to improve mobile and e-commerce

By now, logging on to Facebook will tell you that social media and shopping goes hand in hand given the variety of advertisements in everyones sidebar. It can be argued that Facebook essentially owns the world, so, of course they were going to make sure they would have their hands in the mobile and e-commerce market. Last Monday, they announced that in an effort to compete with Amazon's retail offerings, they will begin testing ad features that will allow users to shop directly through the Facebook app on their mobile phones without leaving the site.

One of the reasons mobile commerce hasn't gotten as big as expected is because users find shopping on their mobile phones to be a slow and irritating process. However, Facebook is hoping to change that by making the process easier through their app. According to an article by marketingland.com, mobile commerce is now 23 percent of all retail sales.

"We're looking to give people an easier way to find products that will be interesting to them on mobile, make shopping easier and help businesses drive sales," said Emma Rodgers, Facebook's head of product marketing for commerce to Reuters.

Some of the new features include ads that will take users to products without having to go to a new site. Businesses on Facebook will now be able to display products directly for purchase as well. A "buy now" button will also be more available throughout Facebook's app.

With 1.49 billion users according to statista.com, Facebook has just revolutionized the retail game forever. A representative for Facebook wasn't immediately available for comment on how this will change their advertising and business models going forward.