To support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook and Instagram have lined up new features to direct people to gift cards from local businesses on the platforms and purchase them via select third party partner sites.
Facebook is testing a feature where people will be able to access gift cards from participating merchants in their cities through a “Support Local Businesses” promotion on Facebook.
The gift cards are made possible through its partners, Fave and Chope who will share the value of the gift card minus their transaction fee with the participating merchant.
On Instagram, businesses can add a gift card sticker to their Stories and also a button for their business profile page. Each time someone sees a Story with these stickers or goes to the business profile page, they can tap through to complete a purchase on the website of the chosen platform.
Sandhya Devanathan, Country Managing Director at Facebook Singapore said: “We’re trying to help businesses navigate the new normal of today’s economic climate. These updates are part of our overall commitment and responsibility to Singapore and the communities we operate in.”
“We hope that with these tools businesses can take more of their operations online and continue serving their customers as they adapt to the current challenges,” she continued.
Two weeks ago, Instagram rolled out the “Order Food” stickers on Instagram Stories and action button on Instagram business profiles globally.
This allows food businesses to share “Order Food” stickers on Instagram Stories and add an action button on their profiles. When users tap on the Stories’ sticker or on the profile button, they will be redirected to complete their purchase on their preferred food delivery platform – Grab, FoodPanda and Deliveroo.
Today, users can choose to complete their food delivery purchase on Chope as well.
Instagram is also launching new capabilities to make it easy for people to show their support for businesses through hashtags and stickers.
A new “Support Small Business” sticker on Instagram lets people give their favourite business a shout out. All the accounts a person follows who use the sticker will be added to a shared Instagram story, allowing people to see the different businesses that people are supporting during this time.
From May 12th, business page admins will also have access to a COVID-19 Business Resource which will provide tips and resources for small businesses including personalized recommendations for their pages. This is in addition to the Business Resource Hub which was launched earlier this year.
