Payvment, a startup that allows anyone to create and operate a retail storefront on Facebook, is unveiling the first virtual shopping mall on the social network. Comprised of all the stores that use Payvment’s retail app for Facebook, the Mall offers over one million products from 50,000 retailers in a centralized place.
Payvment’s Facebook App, which launched in November of 2009, lets anyone create a retail store on the social network. The app lets you set up products, categories of products (i.e. shoes, T-shirts, sweaters), import photos, list terms of service and shipping options and more. Once you set up your online shop on Facebook, it will show up in a separate tab on your profile or page under “storefront”.
In the Payvment Shopping Mall, Facebook shoppers can access a directory of ecommerce
stores, from celebrity brands to local merchants. Visitors can “like products or retailers, and search for products on merchant-specific pages.
The Mall adds a personalized element by showing you what you and your friends are “liking” on the mall. A “Your Cart” feature holds on to your saved items in a universal and updates pricing and inventory information. Facebook users can also comment on any item and post comments to their News feed.
Payvment’s quick growth on Facebook is impressive. As we wrote above, the company has accumulated 50,000 merchants and is adding 250 retailers every dayThe idea of a virtual shopping mall on Facebook certainly makes sense considering how the social network is evolving as a destination for e-commerce. Of course, Facebook, which is reportedly ramping up e-commerce initiatives in 2011, could open its own shopping mall, and use Facebook Credits as a form of currency.