What might have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago, the idea of selling goods or services directly from social sites such as Facebook has taken off in a big way. But while many e-commerce site owners are worried that this new phenomenon may cut into their profits, the opposite can actually be true.
 
The old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" may just be the tonic that e-commerce site owners need to hear. Instead of trying to compete with the likes of Facebook, it is far better to join forces and mount a serious attack on their markets. Recent reports speculate that e-commerce done via Facebook could account to as much as 6.1% of the entire UK e-commerce market by 2015. This could represent a huge untapped market waiting to be exploited.
 
The additional online sales load is there for the taking for anyone who wants to make full use of Facebook as an adjunct to their existing e-commerce site. It's simply a case of getting in on the action before someone else comes along to take that slice of the business for themselves.
 
Setting up a social commerce page on Facebook is relatively simple to do and can make a big impact on sales, while also driving traffic to the core e-commerce website. Success depends to some extent on the nature of the business and the product or service being sold. In other words, what you sell and how you sell it can result in varying levels of success for your business.

 
The key to making a success of a social commerce page is by designing it for a different kind of traffic that you'd normally expect to land on your e-commerce site. Social pages attract social traffic and as long as your page is built to appeal to this kind of traffic, while looking and feeling different to your e-commerce site, there is a greater chance of driving more sales from one to the other.