Virtual Shopping Mall on Facebook

San Francisco-based Payvment, which makes software that can turn Facebook pages into storefronts that accept a credit card or eBay's PayPal online payment service. Payvment has been starting 250 new Facebook retailers daily; that's up 42 percent since August. Its stable of more than 40,000 retailers offers more than 750,000 items, including all-natural cosmetics, handmade jewelry, and T-shirts.

Shopping Mall app helps solve a problem with e-commerce on Facebook, which is that each seller was operating individually and Facebook users didn’t know all the Facebook pages that offered products. For example, if a Facebook user wanted to shop for Converse sneakers on Facebook, he might have gone to Converse’s Facebook page, but he wouldn’t have known there were other merchants also selling Converse on the social network. A search in the Shopping Mall would show all the Converse products available for sale from all merchants using the Payvment app to sell in Facebook. 

The new app is marvelously straightforward: Like any other mall, the Shopping Mall brings all these sellers under one roof having Payvment storefronts and categorize shopping experiences by seller, items, bestsellers, recommended items, besides, makes it easier to browse, research, and buy goods, all without leaving the social media network.

“The Shopping Mall on Facebook is where online shopping gets truly social,” said Christian Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of Payvment.

“We are confident that the Shopping Mall on Facebook will be the place people go to discover new brands, great deals, and the products they and their friends want.”

The platform will allow users to shop around different Facebook storefronts with one universal cart and unlike traditional malls, Payvment's Shopping Mall also includes an individualized section that shows you what you and your friends are “liking” on the mall, and get recommendations based on their Facebook interests.

Furthermore, the most inventive feature of the platform is probably Payvment's universal shopping cart and checkout feature, which allows the user to add items from different stores to the same cart and go through one checkout process.

A “Your Cart” feature holds on to your saved items in a universal and updates pricing and inventory information. So basically, you can add a $300 crystal necklace from Molly Sims' storefront to the same cart to which you add a hand-knitted baby blanket from a private seller in Spokane, Washington, and you can buy both in one checkout process. Facebook users can also comment on any item and post comments to their News feed.