The latest Page feature is available for all Facebook users across Thailand, after soft-launching in the second quarter.

Rathiya Issarachaikul, head of SME Thailand for Facebook, said that after the launch in the Kingdom, Facebook Shop would be available throughout the rest of Southeast Asia and then emerging markets around the world.

She said Thailand was a leader in social commerce and a growing number of consumers preferred to communicate with retailers online.

“Seventy-four per cent of Thais now use instant messaging daily, an increase from 34 per cent in 2014. This is why we launched Facebook Shop in Thailand first,” she said.

Facebook Shop turns Page into an e-commerce site and allows customers to communicate easily with retailers via Facebook Messenger with a ready-to-use message format as well as a saved reply that allows businesses to auto-reply with pre-set messages.

Rathiya said 92 per cent of online shoppers in Thailand used Facebook to find new products.

She said Shop was created to provide businesses with a new way to showcase their products prominently.

Shop is actually a separate page within Facebook Page and its dedicated features include merchandising, purchasing, subscription and advertising.

“Facebook aims to be a platform for helping SME drive sales through the trend of social commerce,” Rathiya said.

Facebook said the Call to Action feature allowed Page users to choose different buttons – Call Now, Shop Now, Message Now, and Learn More – depending on the particular priority.

“All new features, including the latest Facebook Shop, were created to help Page users enhance their online businesses on the Facebook platform free of charge. Our revenue remains advertising – both from Facebook Ad Manager and Boost Post/Product,” Rathiya said.

Sales increase

In Thailand, NIX Studio and JQ Seafood Delivery have incorporated the Shop section on their pages, and both have seen sales increase.

Phanthipha Mongkolla, founder of NIX Studio, said the new feature made the company’s Page the main marketing channel for one-stop online shopping and did so without additional investment.

Sureerat Seepromkhom, founder of JQ Seafood Delivery, said: “In April, on the first day of Songkran, we saw total orders exceed Bt1 million in a single day after adding the Shop section.”

In Thailand, more than 40 million people use Facebook every month. More than 38 million people access Facebook monthly on a mobile device, and more than 74 per cent of Thais on Facebook are connected to at least one local SME Page. The number of SME Pages in Thailand was not disclosed, while globally there are around 60 million.