Facebook is the biggest and most popular social media platform in the world. Its growth means it’s used only well-known by users but by many companies, entrepreneurs, small vendors and global brands, who connect with their customers and sell their products online.
Facebook recently developed Facebook Shops with the main goal of giving businesses a platform to list their products, connect with current and potential clients, and inspire the end-users to shop online.
However, the debate over whether Facebook Shops is better than an online e-commerce store has come up, as businesses wonder whether selling on Facebook will really get them the results they need.
Let’s discuss the pros and cons of Facebook Shops to help you find out if it’s the right platform to grow your business.
The Pros
Brand visibility: Facebook is considered a great starting point when your website or business is pretty new and you are trying to increase brand awareness, thanks to the many users that use it.
Customized page design: Facebook allows you to create custom designs in order to make your page more effective when it comes to catching a client’s attention.
Facebook Integration: Facebook allows those who already have a website to integrate it with them. Sharing your website’s content on Facebook is a way to create backlinks and increase the value or authority of your website in terms of SEO.
The Cons
Lack of control over the platform: Since you don’t own Facebook, you have limitations. If you create your Facebook Page Shop, you can only use or do what Facebook allows you to use or do. You must follow Facebook policies and rules. With your website, you are in charge of what to do, and there are no limitations.
Lack of uniqueness: Even though Facebook allows you to custom your page, there’s a point where you lose uniqueness since other businesses can use the same layout, design or structure that you chose.
High level of distraction: Facebook is such a popular social media platform not only for users but businesses, and one disadvantage of that is the high level of distraction.
So if your goal is driving traffic to your website through Facebook, it may be more difficult when visitors also see ads, another business’ profile, or simply navigating through the platform.
The loading time: Since the Facebook app is heavy, it can take more time to load a page, which frustrates customers. And what can you do? Nothing. Again, it is not your platform — you can not optimize it to improve page speed just like you would do it with an e-commerce website.
Why Choose E-commerce?
Facebook Shops can be a great solution for a small business with no marketing budget, but if you can build a true e-commerce site, you should. With your own e-commerce store, you can:
- Build your brand through a unique look
- Create a unique and strong customer experience
- Optimize your site for traffic, page speed, and conversions
Having your own e-commerce store rather than only a Facebook Page Shop helps you deliver a unique experience to shoppers and most importantly, it ensures you are the one with the control over your business.
The Most Strategic Way To Accelerate Your Business’ Growth
WebCare Pro Toolkit is one of the best tools for business owners with e-commerce stores. With this amazing tool, stores can connect with their community and take advantage of what people say about them to build a strong business reputation.
WebCare Pro Toolkit is a friendly platform that can be used by beginners or non-experts in the e-commerce industry. The WebPro included in the toolkit allows you to create an e-commerce store just as easily as you can on Facebook — and you can actually optimize it afterwards.
A few other things you can do by using WebCare Pro Toolkit is:
- Monitor customer reviews
- Control and schedule your posts on multiple social media
- Compare your online reputation to your competitors
- Gather customer feedback and experience
Financbase is a Digital Marketing Agency that helps local businesses reach their goals with advanced and convenient online marketing tools like the ones mentioned above. Financbase offers reputation management, social marketing, responsive websites, review generation, and listings management tools that make it easier for customers to find and trust your business in local search. Growing your e-commerce site is possible when you have exceptional tools to help you. Get the assistance you need with our experts at Financbase and let us guide you through this journey of working with the strongest reputation management platform for e-commerce stores.
