Facebook is testing a new “Want” button in the US as it looks to extend its reach into e-commerce. 

The Want button will appear on the websites of seven key retailers, including lingerie shop Victoria’s Secret and high-end department store Neiman Marcus, and will allow Facebook users to mark products they want. The products will then appear on their Facebook Timeline. 

The new feature has been compared to Pinterest, which allows users to create an online pinboard of products they are interested in. 

Retailers have seen a rapid rise in traffic derived from Pinterest, which has around 20 million regular users, according to a report in the Financial Times. 

Users will also be able to buy the items direct on Facebook. At present, Facebook has no plans to charge retailers for this facility.

“E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetise the internet. Thinking about how large they are as a platform and how engaged people are, there are lots of levers they haven’t pulled yet in terms of monetisation, Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastien told Reuters. 

Critics are concerned that the Want button will reignite the debate about privacy, as the new feature will allow Facebook to collect more data about users. 

Posted by

Smarayda Christoforou