Social media giant Facebook will extend its support to small businesses recovering from the impacts of COVID-19 by waiving off its stipulated fee on using the Checkout on Shops feature for selling products on the platform till June 2021.
Facebook had earlier waived off a similar fee which was charged towards the income from paid online events by the small businesses until August.
In a statement to the public, the social media platform stated that “It’s a critical time because small businesses are facing the greatest challenge of their lifetimes, with 47 percent saying they might not survive the next six months or are unsure of how long they will stay afloat if current circumstances persist.”
With close to 66 percent of small businesses across the globe 17 countries stating that they began or increased the use of digital tools for marketing, digital marketing is becoming one of the critical aspects for operations among small businesses. 61 percent of small businesses have also reported that they expect to increase the use of these tools post-COVID.
Facebook revealed that it is “introducing ‘Good Ideas Deserve To Be Found’, an initiative that highlights how personalized ads are an important way people discover small businesses on Facebook and Instagram, and how these ads help small businesses grow from an idea into a livelihood.”
The platform is also expected to simplify its ‘Ads Manager’ user interface to make it easier for small businesses to begin using personalized marketing plans to increase the value of their advertising investment.
“Restaurants have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, so we’re introducing new options to note what type of dining experience is available, and making this easy for people to see in Businesses Nearby,” the social network stated while adding that it is also introducing a new menu tab on Pages so businesses can upload their menu directly to their Page.
The company will also update its Business Resource hub on the platform and Professional Dashboard on Instagram with more information on how personalized ads work.
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