Shopify’s Facebook Messenger Sales Channel Is Now Available to Online Stores in the UK.

Shopify’s Facebook Messenger sales channel is now available to online retailers with stores in the UK. Since June 21st, merchants have been able to take advantage of conversational and social selling through the innovative integration of the social messaging tool - allowing stores to have better communication with customers and provide better customer service.

As always, we’ve had to wait a while in the UK for the shiny new eCommerce feature that has been available in the US for some time! However, we’ve been able to observe how stores are using the integration and really see how it can be used in context and see the power of conversational selling.

What is conversational selling?

If you turn back time a few decades, selling and retail was driven by markets and boutique stores where customers could meet the shop owners or staff, ask questions and seek advice. This friendly, approachable element has often been lost with online stores as retailers struggle to provide effective and quick customer service. However, with the emergence of social media and live chat tools, more and more retailers are engaging with their audiences and mimicking the old-school ways of selling.

How does Facebook Messenger and Shopify work?

This has been made even easier with tools like Facebook Messenger which allows retailers to answer questions directly to the customer’s Facebook inbox - without the need for email or phone calls. You can also automatically update customers on their order and delivery - so they’re easily informed about where their order is and how long it’s going to take.

Facebook is becoming a huge hub for online activity - users can connect with friends, read news, watch videos, engage with brands etc. without leaving the platform. So it makes sense for retailers to make the customer service process easier for users and be available on the platform.

Shopify has many guides and insights on how retailers can take full advantage of the tool so we recommend you take a further read:

• Messenger app
• Start the conversation with Facebook Messenger
• Shopify introduces a better way to communicate with your customers using Facebook Messenger

If you want to use Messenger on Shopify but need help integrating it with your online store, we are Shopify Experts and can help you optimise your store for conversational selling - so please do get in touch.