Dive Brief:

• BigCommerce announced new tools for merchants, enabling them to install the Facebook Pixel conversion tracking, optimization and remarketing tool across their entire websites without the need to manually enter or edit any code, which in turn will help them to more easily launch and measure cross-device advertising campaigns through Facebook dynamic ads.

• The e-commerce platform also said it is expanding support for the Facebook Shop section on its Pages application, which enables merchants to let their customers check out directly on Facebook if they desire.

• Facebook Pixel installation will be available in the BigCommerce App Marketplace in the coming weeks, the company said, while eligible merchants can immediately configure checkout for Shop sections on Pages through the BigCommerce Channel Manager.

Dive Insight:

BigCommerce is suddenly getting together with all the cool kids, just recently announcing support for Apple Pay through its platform and now making it easier for its merchant customers to leverage Facebook's advertising potential and audience of shoppers.

Both of these announcements certainly enlarge BigCommerce's profile and provide a nice image boost for a company we may not hear about as often as its rivals, like Shopify. But BigCommerce is not trying to win an image war; it's trying to give it's retail and merchant customers all the tools they need to compete and raise their own online profiles.

The Pixel installation capability will make it easier for these merchants to leverage Facebook as an advertising platform without committing to a massive IT project to all the technology components lined up. They can more efficiently create and optimize ad campaigns, track customer actions and retarget ads at customers that they know have visited their websites.

Arguably even more important is the Facebook Shops support. BigCommerce is enabling Facebook ordering for customers of the merchants on its platform, with all orders automatically synced with the merchant’s online store, providing inventory and order management from a single source.

This isn't just about a lot of merchants getting a boost via Facebook. The social media giant has been working for a couple of years on different strategies to monetize its massive userbase. Among other wishes, it would really like to see more people doing their shopping and buying via Facebook, though that remains a work in progress. Making it easier for more merchants to support advertising and sales through Facebook could help advance that strategy. It certainly couldn't hurt.