Facebook to dip toe in e-commerce

Facebook has announced that it will begin testing a new way for people to discover and buy products on the platform in a bid to drive sales through its pages and news feed.

The new ‘Buy’ call-to-action button will allow desktop and mobile users to purchase a product directly from a business without leaving Facebook.

However, the social network has said that none of the credit or debit card information that people share on the platform when completing a transaction will be shared with other advertisers.

In a blog post, Facebook wrote: “We’ve built this feature with privacy in mind, and have taken steps to help make the payment experience safe and secure.

“People can select whether or not they’d like to save payment information for future purchases.”

The current test is limited to a few small and medium-sized businesses in the US, with more information to be announced in due course.