Facebook's future reliant on e-commerce

Monday, August 27, 2012 - 09:17 by Graham Miller

Social networking giant Facebook has had a tough time since it went public earlier this year, with its shares decreasing in value from their original peak offering.

Despite the fact that it is closing on a billion members, it looks like Mark Zuckerberg's baby is going to have to look into other areas, if it wants to sustain itself as one of the world's biggest companies.

While it currently relies on advertising and the value of its users' information in order to generate revenue, current trends suggest that investors are looking forward to the day when it becomes a fully fledged platform for safe shopping online.

The Telegraph reports that various Silicon Valley bigwigs have begun putting money into applications which are designed to run in tandem with Facebook, offering users the ability to spend real cash and purchase real products, with a cut of the spoils going straight to the site itself.

At the moment it is possible to purchase Facebook Credits, which can then be harnessed to buy items and services, although the site recently announced that it would be altering the system, so that users from around the world can actually see the costs converted into their local currency.

This is definitely a step in the right direction for a company that needs to restore the faith and trust of investors.

Given Facebook's dramatically wide-ranging access to over 900 million global users, which eclipses the 160 million customers who currently use Amazon to carry out safe shopping online, it certainly seems like e-commerce expansion is the way to go.

Retail experts agree that while Facebook is still not a hub for product information, it remains the best place for customers to interact with brands and discuss products and services with one another.