Shopify is arguably the platform of choice for new retailers branching into online selling. So how will the company’s recent integration with Facebook Messenger enable brands to reach their audiences more effectively?

Shopify has long been a pioneer in the e-commerce world, enabling merchants to benefit from a fully-integrated platform, ideal for all types of retail transactions. Its point of sale options include some that are very unique- one of our favourites for brands to date includes Shopkey, the site’s app for businesses to share their products with customers straight from their iPhones, thanks to an exclusively-developed keyboard.

And now, the platform has extended its transaction capabilities to Facebook Messenger. In this, we see the company benefitting from Facebook’s unrivalled user base of one billion, who use Messenger for one on one conversations, group chats, and to connect with brands on a daily basis. Earlier in the year, Facebook announced its own developments to incorporate Artificial Intelligence technology in the form of chat bots on the app, letting brands communicate with their customers. Bots are now able to message users, recommend products and news articles, as well as book hotels and travel tickets, for instance. However, enabling customers to pay directly in the app is the newest update, which Shopify merchants will be able to take advantage of very soon. Prior to this, customers had been required to exit their chat and head to the brand’s site to make the final purchase. Despite this, the company stated that it had witnessed around 20,000 of its online merchants engaging in approximately 2 million unique conversations, showing that the potential to grow this service is huge. The latest update will also enable brands to add products to their customer conversations, and feature “Buy now” buttons for customers to enter their payment details in-app. Payment data will also be stored within the app for quick future transactions.

Simultaneously, Facebook has revealed that its Messenger bots will also be supporting native payments via the likes of Stripe, Paypal, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Already, it’s been reported that around 34,000 developers have joined Messenger since the launch of bots, and now with the intention to add payment integration functionality.  And to show it is intent on broadening its e-commerce capabilities, Facebook itself has also just announced a new platform entitled “Marketplace”- launched earlier this week, this will enable users to buy and sell all within the platform. Unlike Shopify’s integration or business integration with Messenger though, Marketplace is more of a platform for individual users as opposed to established brands, intended to be used in a similar way to eBay. While there are potential risks involved, such as the sale of restricted items for instance, Facebook has stated that it will be working to ensure that the types of items bought and sold align with the company’s policies.

Do you own an online business that operates on Shopify or accepts online payments? Do you think this latest development will benefit brands enormously? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.