The Battle of the Buy It Buttons

Google, Facebook and Pinterest are now all testing new E-commerce features

We announced recently that Pinterest has started rolling out its ‘Buy It’ buttons, allowing users to buy products they see on Pinterest without leaving the site. You have may have heard about similar new functionality from Google  and Facebook has responded too.

In this post I'll give the latest on these initiatives from these platforms creating a system for sales which means users don’t have to stray from the platform they are on to make a purchase.

Facebook

Facebook already introduced a Buy it button for ads and page posts last year, but now the largest social network has plants to create a bigger and better commerce experience.

Facebook haven’t officially announced their plan in detail, but their announcements suggest that they will be creating ‘Shop’ pages, which will be mini e-commerce sites. This will allow the whole shopping experience to be conducted in Facebook, as Facebook’s buy it buttons will be on hand to facilitate the purchasing of goods without ever having to leave Facebook.

These shops are still in the testing phase, but this quote from Facebook hints at what the site is planning to achieve.

“With the shop section on the page, we’re now providing businesses with the ability to showcase their products directly on the page”

Emma Rodgers, Facebook product marketing manager

This could be a great way for Facebook to keep people within its own site, and also offers the possibility of further revenue generation. Facebook at current says it is not planning on charging any kind of fee for transactions conducted through its buy it buttons, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever.

Google Purchases

The official name for Google’s own ‘buy it button’ is Google Purchases, and it is a bit different to other buy it buttons.

As with other 'Buy it' buttons, it will appear on the product listing on Google’s shopping search. Where it differs from other Buy it buttons is that it does actually take users through to a retailer branded site to complete the purchase when the button is pressed. However, Google will host this site and the purchase process. Google does not plan on charging any form of transaction fee, but instead charges on a pay per click basis for the search generated click.

This feature is currently being rolled out on mobile, along with other changes to Google shopping. These include the ability to swipe to enlarge the Google shopping ribbon, which appears whenever a search in Google relates to something, so shoppers can see more details about products. Google is now rolling out this feature for Chrome on Android, with iOS support planned for later this year.

With this news from two of the giants of the web, plus Apple Pay’s recent launch in the UK, the online payment and e-commerce market is looking increasingly innovative. It is a huge and lucrative industry, so competition between these tech leviathans could get fierce. Watch this space.

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