Facebook has introduced Facebook Business Suite — an interface to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) save time and stay up to date by managing their Pages or profiles across its apps.
The suite allows SMB customers to post to Facebook and Instagram at the same time, and manage and receive messages, notifications and alerts in one place, the social networking giant said.
“They can also easily see what’s working and learn what’s resonating with customers with Facebook and Instagram insights,” Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, said in a blog post on Thursday.
Facebook said it has announced a Business Suite for small businesses first, but this is a long-term investment to make this the main interface for businesses of all sizes who use Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.
It is available for small businesses globally starting Thursday, and will expand to larger businesses next year.
A Facebook study on the impact of Covid-19 on consumers’ purchasing patterns and their use of digital tools to search for and interact with businesses indicated that half of those surveyed had spent more money online overall since the outbreak. 40 percent increased their use of social media and online messaging for product and business recommendations, Facebook said.
The survey also found encouraging support for local businesses. Of those who said they had started shopping at new businesses, nearly three-quarters said that at least one was a small business. Nearly 31 percent said they will increase their spending with small local businesses once the pandemic is over.
