French Connection to launch Facebook store

A selection of French Connection clothing will be sold at the store, which opens at the end of the month.

French Connection and other high-street retailers are adding to their ecommerce offerings in an effort to say attuned to customers' changing buying habits.

In September 2010 French Connection launched its YouTube shopping store, called YouTique, and this week the fashion brand relaunched its website.

Customers can also click through the French Connection Facebook page to buy items on the brand's site. The latest enhancement will enable shoppers to stay within Facebook when purchasing the clothes.

The Facebook store will be boosted by added social capabilities yet to be confirmed by the retailer.

Brands need to secure a worthwhile community on Facebook before deeming it cost effective to launch a dedicated Facebook store.

French Connection is following Asos, the online fashion retailer, which launched its own ecommerce site last month.

French Connection's push into social commerce follows the brand’s launch of its YouTube shopping store, YouTique, in September last year, the first of its kind in the UK.

Speaking at a recent event in London, Dan Rose, vice-president of products and platforms, denied that Facebook was creating a walled garden on the web and said it was investing equally in its own digital canvas, and providing tools for brands that want its social features on the web.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk