Facebook CEO unveils new shopping feature to bring small businesses online amid pandemic

In a bid to rectify the “deeper crisis” caused by the unprecedented outbreak of coronavirus, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced the launch of “Facebook Shops” on May 20. The new feature announced by the co-founder of the social media giant during live stream would allow the small businesses to showcase as well as sell their products on all the platforms owned by Facebook. The product has been launched with the “basic idea” to enable the transaction for such businesses within the applications. 

According to Zuckerberg, it is “particularly important” right now as the world is impacted with the COVID-19 pandemic and the major countries are under lockdown which has forced businesses to shut down. However, through Facebook Shops the small businesses can move their projects online to deal with the economic fallout as many other firms have already started making the shift. People across the world are currently being asked to stay indoors and avoid physical contact to curb the further spread of COVID-19 as the virus has till now infected over 4.9 million people and claimed 323,119 lives globally. 

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‘Working personally’

While making the announcement, Zuckerberg said on May 20 that he has been “personally working” with several teams in the company for several months to accelerate the process of its launch to make it available for the businesses amid crisis. The Facebook CEO went on to describe how this feature is “free and easy to create”. Once the shop is set up on Facebook and Instagram accounts, it will also appear on Messenger and WhatsApp.

“Shops are native and fast, which means no more app-switching to a slow mobile web browser where you have to reenter your credit card when you tap on an interesting product you see in feeds,” Zuckerberg said.

He added, "This all adds up to something quite powerful. If you're running a small business or you're thinking of starting one – even from your living room – you now have a whole suite of tools available that can help you serve people."

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Image Source: AP