Stores selling via Facebook has seen their sales grow 36% during the third quarter of the year, according to new data.
The findings, from Face book shopping cart app Ecwid, shows strong 2012 year-to-date sales growth at its Facebook storefronts.
In the third quarter of 2012, total sales from all Ecwid-powered Facebook stores grew 36 percent from the previous quarter.
The cumulative number of individual Facebook store orders also grew, rising by 39 percent. These statistics reflect aggregate data from Facebook storefronts using Ecwid’s Facebook application.
Most Ecwid stores are owned by small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
“F-Commerce could stand for ’flourishing’ commerce in the SMB market we serve,” says Jim O’Hara, president of Ecwid, Inc. “While some big name retailers have misfired at Facebook commerce, we see a different story with small businesses, which seem to be more effective at connecting personally with social audiences.”
Ecwid Analysis of SMB Success with Facebook Store Commerce:
Conversations with many Facebook storefront owners have led Ecwid to the conclusion that small businesses know how to “work the Facebook system” effectively, meaning they continually socialize with people posting on their Facebook pages, just as they would in a physical store.
One Ecwid storefront, Apricot Lane women’s boutique, derives 80 percent of its online sales from Facebook. It attributes its success to staying in constant communication with Facebook followers. Says co-owner Renee Dixon, “We see Facebook traffic as real customers. They may not be in our physical store, but we still treat them as customers who shop and buy.”
While Facebook storefront success varies widely, Ecwid data from the last two years has shown that retailers selling through both web and Facebook storefronts consistently generate between nine percent and 22 percent of their online income from Facebook.
Source: www.ecwid.com