A new chapter of e-commerce is claimed to start out within the country after social media giant Facebook introduced its customer-to-customer platform which will enable people to shop for and sell items.
“I am happy to ascertain that after Amazon, Facebook has also launched ‘Marketplace’ for Pakistan,” PM’s Adviser on Commerce Razak Dawood said on Friday.
He went on say that it might encourage small entrepreneurs to sell online.
Facebook Marketplace was introduced in 2016 and has been unrolled in over 100 countries. Earlier, Facebook users in Pakistan didn’t have access to the feature.
“Such opportunities during Covid-19 might be a lifeline for micro enterprises,” the adviser said, adding that it might even be helpful for ladies entrepreneurs, who want to interact in market activity by purchasing and selling within the community of friends, family and networks.
“This is that the initiative towards e-commerce,” Mr Dawood said.
Official documents seen by Dawn show that Facebook Marketplace was primarily a C2C platform that provided a chance to people to shop for and sell items.
Written messages from the Facebook management to Pakistan’s commerce ministry said that “introduction of latest features and products on our platform is Facebook’s way of demonstrating our commitment and support to our community in Pakistan”.
“Expanding our product offerings in Pakistan and bringing new features into the country enables us to support individuals also as small, medium and even micro businesses which use our platform,” the message, made available to Dawn, further said.
Elaborating on the features, it says Marketplace makes it easier and more convenient for people to shop for and sell by leveraging their social network.
“This compliments the broader work that Facebook does to support Pakistan’s vibrate small businessmen with a spread of products, services and training programmes,” the message added.
On Marketplace, people can look around listings or look for items almost them to seek out great things to shop for . Moreover, one doesn’t need to download another app or found out a replacement account so as to shop for and sell.
Similarly, the user can reach people in their area people and find unique items purchasable through their existing Facebook account.
Marketplace is out there within the Facebook app and on desktops and tablets. While employing a browser , one can find its icon on the left side of the Facebook page.
The social networking site has been an integral a part of Pakistan’s society for many years . Over 50 million people in Pakistan spend time on Facebook monthly , using the platform to attach with family and friends, find businesses they like and trade on a day to day .
“We built Facebook Marketplace to form it easier and more convenient for buyers and sellers that are already on our platforms to attach and leverage this social network and sell their products,” the Facebook management said.
Currently, all transactions in Marketplace are completed outside of Facebook platform.
“We don’t take revenue or seller’s fees for any of our roles in enabling sales via Marketplace,” it had been clarified by Facebook.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the economy in many countries, including Pakistan, and Facebook wants to assist the govt of Pakistan’s efforts for economic recovery by providing features and products like Marketplace to assist people buy and sell and generate more economic activity.
“This is additionally to the support we provide small businesses to simply digitise operations, adapt to selling online and reach to wider networks, also as programmes to assist SMBs during this difficult time,” a Facebook official said, adding that “we enable sellers to create a web presence at no cost and minimal complexity, and for those just starting it”.
