Facebook launches “Marketplace” e-commerce platform
Social media giant Facebook has launched a new e-commerce platform, called “Marketplace”, which it says will allow users to “buy and sell with your local community”. Essentially, Marketplace is Facebook’s long-awaited vehicle for competing with platforms like eBay and Craigslist.
In a notice posted on the its newsroom website yesterday (3 October) , Facebook said that the Marketplace smartphone app will be rolling out in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand “over the next few days”.
Facebook added: “We will continue expanding to additional countries and make Marketplace available on the desktop version of Facebook in the coming months.”
The Marketplace app will bring together buyers and sellers and enable them to make and accept offers. However, the notice on the corporate newsroom said that: “Facebook does not facilitate the payment or delivery of items in Marketplace.”
The news about Marketplace has sparked interest in the parcel delivery industry, as it is likely to have a significant impact for the whole e-commerce sector.
David Jinks, Head of Consumer Research at ParcelHero, commented: “While the likes of eBay and even Amazon won’t be quaking in their boots yet; perhaps they should be. Initially Marketplace will just be a ‘classifieds’ type space for ordinary people finding new homes for items; but professional sellers would be foolhardy to ignore access to this huge audience for their products. Whether it’s by the front door or the back door professional traders running eBay and Amazon shops will be looking to sell on the site.”
