SAN FRANCISCO – Women, particularly moms-turned-entrepreneurs seeking flexibility, are at the epicenter of what retailing and technology experts have dubbed "F-commerce," the next wave of e-commerce where all sales occur through Facebook comments.
According to Soldsie, the leading app that helps businesses manage flash sales and invoicing solely within Facebook, of the 1,000+ merchants selling accessories, clothing, home decor items and other goods through its Facebook app, 90 percent are women-run, with a significant portion comprised of moms seeking flexibility to balance work and family life.
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Since Soldsie's launch in September 2012, its merchants have generated more than $1 million in sales each month through the app. Most of these merchants do not have websites where they sell their their merchandise, relying instead on Facebook for their sole source of income.
"These women and moms-turned-entrepreneurs are reinventing the way all of us shop. Instead of making customers come to them, they're going to their customers and their customers' friends by appearing in their Facebook newsfeeds," said Chris Bennett, founder of Soldsie, which recently announced that its system has processed more than $10 million in transactions.
"And since buying via Facebook simply involves typing 'sold' in the comment under a picture, they're capitalizing off already normal social media behaviors that can be done easily on computers, iPads and other mobile devices. Soldsie helps by making that process as simple as possible for both buyers and sellers," he added.
Dallas mom Amy Coffey agrees with the power of selling on Facebook. She co-founded Accessory Concierge with her friend Amy Claro, with whom she worked in sales and marketing for ESPN. After having children, the friends were seeking flexibility to help juggle the demands of work and their growing families. Since launching in 2012, they've turned their $12,000 investment into a million-dollar business with 21,000 Facebook fans and ships 700-800 items each week. Together, Coffey and Claro select and photograph merchandise, upload images and ship the items. Soldsie manages posting, processing and invoicing for their sales.
"Our entire business model and success is based on the popularity of Facebook," said Coffey. "It would have been next-to-impossible to build up such a large customer base without it, nor would I be able to balance the needs of my business and family."
"Selling on Facebook is a great way for women to transition from stay-at-home moms to entrepreneurs building their businesses, and we try to make it as easy on them as possible," added Soldsie's Bennett.
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