Facebook’s push towards e-commerce functionality is starting to pay off. Facebook Marketplace, the Craigslist-like service where users buy and sell with each other, now has one billion users, Mark Zuckerberg shared in an update last time. . He also revealed that there are over a million stores, with over 250 million users interacting with these storefronts every month. Facebook launched the feature, which allows businesses to create product catalogs on their pages,
Zuckerberg noted that e-commerce has “become much more important” during the coronavirus pandemic. It also allows Facebook to find new ways to make money from its services. For example, the CEO said the company would allow business owners to purchase Facebook ads that open directly in WhatsApp from the WhatsApp Business app. And Instagram plans to to manage their own stores on the application.
“We are investing in building the future of commerce,” Zuckerberg said. “We have a long way to go to create a comprehensive commerce platform for all of our services. This modern commerce system is going to bring together a number of areas where we already have strong offerings such as ads, community tools and messaging with areas such as stores and messaging and business payments. “
Facebook warned that 2021 would bring “uncertainty” as society navigates the effects of , which requires users to agree to ad tracking. CFO Dave Whener said the company now expects the update to “start making an impact” next quarter.
So far, however, the business is doing very well. It brought in just over $ 26 billion in revenue, a 48% increase from last year. It also increased its user base to 1.88 billion daily active users, although growth in the United States – its most lucrative advertising market – remained stable. Note, Facebook’s “other” income increased 146%. The category represents Facebook’s hardware sales, including its Oculus and Portal devices. “Quest 2 is doing better than expected, even after the holiday season,” Zuckerberg said.
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