Comment: What does Facebook Home mean for retailers?

Last week, Facebook announced a new app called ‘Home’ to be hosted on the HTC First phone. Instead of having to click through to a Facebook app, phones will be reset to display updates to Facebook profiles and newsfeeds on the home screen. Other apps will sit behind this Facebook layer.

This news is another reason why retailers must act now to engage consumers across every possible platform, inspiring them and giving them every opportunity to buy and interact with their brands.  

There’s no doubt that the UK retail industry is at a cross-roads and has been for some time. The reality is that shoppers want to shop anytime, anywhere, on any device. As an industry, we have to respond to their shopping behaviours and the Facebook announcement is a timely reminder of this.

Mobile and social technologies are increasingly important in our everyday lives. Combined, they are a powerful mix with huge potential to boost bottom line. That’s because, for consumers, convenience and speed hold the key – for browsing at home or price checking on the way to work, to locating stock and checking availability in-stores. In the UK a purchase is made every second from eBay via mobile, and we know almost half of consumers are influenced by social media in making these decisions, highlighting the opportunity on offer.

As a result, smart retailers are innovating and embracing mobile and social media as a way to deeply engage with their consumers. They see web-enabled omnichannel as less of a threat and more of an opportunity. Our research shows the likes of augmented reality, image recognition and GPS functionality could boost the retail industry by £2.4bn by 2014.

More retailers need to tap into virtual shop windows and we’re already seeing many take steps towards this. On eBay today, over 100 well-known brands and retailers are using the site as another way to reach 17 million shoppers in the UK alone.

Today, retailers and brands are under increased pressure to engage with their audiences and every channel has its part to play, from inspiration to purchase. This news can help the industry take advantage of the impact that social has on shopping, but retailers must not stand still – they have to turn the opportunity into reality.

Olivier Ropars is senior director of m-commerce, eBay Europe