Something interesting is happening on Facebook. The big brands are not only joining in droves, but are creating stores from which to sell their wares.

When I first saw that P&G had launched not one, but six, Facebook stores, I screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

But then I read that they’re not using the stores to sell; rather to glean customer insight. Sure they’ll sell products there, but that’s not their main goal.

That made me feel better. Here we’re talking constantly about not relying a platform you don’t own and then one of the biggest brands in the world slaps us in the face.

Turns out, they agree.

P&G f-commerce is less about sales, and more about creating a “Live Learning Lab” for the business to learn about consumers, customer centricity, and e-commerce.

The story in Social Commerce Today says P&G are doing three things with the Facebook stores:

The interesting thing is that P&G is doing something many, many companies (including some clients) are scared to death to do: They’re bypassing their retailers and going direct to consumer. Sure, McDonald is careful to say they’re still doing business with their retailers, but the truth of the matter is they’re going direct to consumer, which is the Golden Ticket.

But this doesn’t have to be just for big brands. While it’s not through eStore, we have a tab on the Arment Dietrich Facebook wall that allows you to buy our books and webinars. We’re certainly  not a big brand.

What I love most, though? Selling through Facebook gives you several opportunities, no matter if you’re B2B, B2C, or service-based.

Just like P&G, you can glean customer insights. You can go direct to the customer, which is ideal in some B2B sales. And you can sell online (which means 24/7, 365 days a year) without having to build an eCommerce site.

How will you use social commerce?

Thinking about new ways to blog? Join Nate Riggs and the Spin Sucks Pro team on Thursday, July 14 at 11 am CDT for a webinar on Blog Style Guidelines: Mastering the Lists.

Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is the founder, CEO, and author of Spin Sucks, host of the Spin Sucks podcast, and author of Spin Sucks (the book). She is the creator of the PESO Model and has crafted a certification for it in partnership with Syracuse University. She has run and grown an agency for the past 15 years. She is co-author of Marketing in the Round, co-host of Inside PR, and co-host of The Agency Leadership podcast.

View all posts by Gini Dietrich