Dive Brief:

• Facebook is testing a feature that would provide small businesses with a storefront within their Pages, Buzzfeed reports.

• Several online retailers are reportedly testing these “mini” e-commerce shops and some have buy buttons.

• The news comes just after reports surfaced that Facebook is also testing a shopping assistant app in Messenger and buy buttons on its ads. 

   

Dive Insight:

This is the kind of advance for Facebook that could really boost mobile-based commerce significantly. Savvy retailers are willing and able to jump on the e-commerce functionality that continues to emerge on social media sites. And the potential is particularly great on Facebook, with whose apps, Buzzfeed notes, U.S. consumers spend some 13% of their time on their phones.

This pilot is in its early stages, so there’s much to be learned about how successful it is or what any terms may be. And once it’s established, if it is, how it might evolve is an important question. Facebook has been known to come to retailers with changes in terms that make using its platform more expensive or less effective without much notice.

Still, this sounds like a feature that could help propel mobile commerce, and provide a rich source of customer data as well.