Report: Facebook testing digital stores

Menlo Park, Calif. – Facebook is increasing its buy-in for the high-stakes poker game of social commerce.

According to BuzzFeed, Facebook has begun piloting online storefronts located within the pages of a number of retailers.

Some of the storefronts allow direct purchases from within Facebook using the social platform’s buy button, which Facebook began piloting in July 2014. The buy button lets desktop or mobile consumers click the “buy” call-to-action button on ads and page posts to purchase a product directly from a business, without leaving Facebook.

A Facebook spokesperson said the number of Facebook storefronts is currently in the “double digits” and will expand. Facebook does not currently take any percentage of sales conducted through its pages.

Facebook’s push into social commerce comes as Google is deploying the “buy” buttons it announced earlier this year on a test basis in the next few weeks. The feature, called Purchases on Google, will allow consumers to purchase products directly from ads in select promoted mobile search ads.