I see more and more e-commerce websites using Facebook as a second login option for the customer. The advantage is obvious, when the user gets to the website, he is most likely already logged in facebook, thus to cs-cart…
It is all self-explanatory here (“login” section)
[url]http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web/[/url]
How hard is this to implement along with the cs-cart login system and has this feature been requested?
Oh yeah, and another advantage is that when the user leaves feedback for a product, it shows on his facebook wall as well…
You are basically loggin into FB and then being given access to their information. You would have to see if the user exists in the cart and if not, you would have to create it (programtically). The cart cannot use foreign information, it must be local without a huge amount of rework.
This is possible, but there are quite a few hours of work to do it properly.
How much would you quote to develop this?
Anyone interested to pitch in for this mod?
[quote name=‘tbirnseth’]You are basically loggin into FB and then being given access to their information. You would have to see if the user exists in the cart and if not, you would have to create it (programtically). The cart cannot use foreign information, it must be local without a huge amount of rework.
This is possible, but there are quite a few hours of work to do it properly.[/QUOTE]
I found this site and they seem to offer exactly what you’re looking for:
[url]http://www.sitemasterly.com/[/url]
Hi flow,
Thanks for the link.
The link you gave imports personal information from facebook to the registration form in cs-cart.
What I’m looking for is a full facebook login gateway, you can see it here for example: [url]https://livingsocial.com/login[/url]
You choose to login using Facebook connect and you’re immediately logged in with your login account and ready to purchase.
And if you were already logged in Facebook before loading the cs-cart site, you will be automatically logged in in the cs-cart website…
I hope this makes sense…
I think that’s what their addon does. It captures the FB info on login. If the user doesn’t exist (after authentication by FB) then an account is created. Then, on subsequent logins, it only authenticates through FB.
Maybe I missed something, but that’s what I got from the description and a very brief look at their demo.
Personally, with FB’s privacy issues, I wouldn’t use them as my login gateway… But, that’s not what you originally asked about.
Hi tbirnseth,
[QUOTE]I think that’s what their addon does. It captures the FB info on login. If the user doesn’t exist (after authentication by FB) then an account is created. Then, on subsequent logins, it only authenticates through FB.
[/QUOTE]
In livingsocial.com for example, even if the user is not registered in their website, if he chooses to login with his facebook login, he is not bothered with registering at all… he is ready to buy right away…
Seems like $120 is a bit high for a login addon… But it’s the market that sets the price. Fads go for more than realism… And if you have Mobile or FB in your offering, you’re right in the middle of the current fad. Unfortunately, fads tend to come and go. AOL was the be-all end-all once upon a time…
Be interesting to hear how people calcuate a return on investment for a FB login to a shopping cart. I would think money would be much better spent on integrating selected products into a facebook store that has buy now buttons that go to the checkout page. How long will it take to bring me $120 worth of new business that I would not have otherwise gotten?
[quote]
In livingsocial.com for example, even if the user is not registered in their website, if he chooses to login with his facebook login, he is not bothered with registering at all… he is ready to buy right away…
[/quote]
Absolutely, you are only “bothered” the first time to approve FB sending the info to the store. The store then does everything else behind the scenes. If it’s done right, the user is flagged as a FB user and automtically tries FB authentication first and offers normal login as a separate activity. If they are still actively logged into FB, then they are actively logged into your store.
It is a bit high yes. But I think it all depends on what type of product you’re selling and how you are using FB. If you have 5000+ fans in FB. It’s nice that when they get to your website, they’re already logged in and they see their profile image in your cs-cart website. It’s all about user experience.
And you’re right, having your products listed in a FB store can help as well.
Let’s not forget also the “comments” section in cs-cart. It could be greatly enhanced if the user comments were published on his/her wall.
Social media will be the next big thing in e-commerce (probably is already…) . I’ve seen brands giving points for users if they were to “check in” in a hotel lobby for example or write a review for a product. This trickles down to all their friends and can have a great exposure for a small business at a small cost.
I know I’m digressing from the subject but I think that more focus should be given to Social Media from cs-cart because there are so many types of e-marketing solutions that could be implemented. Facebook Connect is the very basic.
Here is what a competitor that I don’t want to name offers:
Social Media Marketing
Sell on Facebook with SocialShop
Facebook “Like” buttons on product pages
Facebook OpenGraph META support
IntenseDebate comment/reviews integration and sharing on Facebook/Twitter
Disqus comment/reviews integration and sharing on Facebook/Twitter
Share products on 20+ social media sites via AddThis button
My 2 cents.
Overall, don’t disagree. If you have a FB page for your store and you have many fans, then absolutely, having FB integration is a plus. Simply because it makes the user experience simpler if they want to offer reviews/comments/likes about your site. If not, then it’s a little heavy for a login process. But, like you say, it all depends…
I think social media is a fad and will go by the wayside in a few years when “the next thing” comes along. Myspace was going to conquer the world and AOL was to be everyone’s interface to the internet. Now, if the crystal ball were just clear enough to see what that “next thing” would be…
Mobile shopping is in the same boat. Selling downloads, phone accessories, etc. is just fine. But doing serious shopping from a small screen format phone just isn’t going to happen. Try looking up an auto part anywhere on a mobile phone… Way too much work.
Every fad looks irreplaceable while it’s hot. Its the definition of a fad. It costs the business community close to zero to participate in social media so any exposure they get is a plus. But $120 for a small store owner can be a big deal and they must figure out the return on investment carefully. If not, then they’ll be broke in a year anyway…
I tried the plugin on their site just now and I think the only thing it does is it pasts the info from your facebook account into the registration form of CS.
I think this is too basic to really call it facebook integration, but I do understand why they do it like this. You DO want people to check all their info before they register and buy at your shop, because some people might not have their facebook info up to date or use their real name, and so on.
About the things you mention that competitors offer: except for the facebook shop all these things are quite easy to build into CS-cart. Most of them don’t need more then a copy and paste of the code in a block.
I like this idea though: when the user leaves feedback for a product, it shows on his facebook wall as well…
TB, maybe you can build something for CS-cart and facebook and really do it right like with your mailchimp plugin? I think you already have 2 customers and I’m sure there are more people interested 
I’d be happy to look into it. You guys need to just generate a good list of requirements and options.
2 Customers doesn’t usually cut it. My pricing model depends upon 10 just to break even. Otherwise people couldn’t afford it.
Tony - Add me to the list of buyers on this one.
thanks,
Glen
I would be interested as well.
Adam
i love this facebook system as well.
count me in
So is someone going to develop a list of requirements and desired behavior? I certainly don’t want to take a cs-cart approach and just give you something that isn’t what you wanted because it’s how I thought it should be…
Please generate a list of requirments and functionality that you would like to see.
I will try to put something together tomorrow.
I’m not sure about the complexity of the last 2 features below but here is what I could think right off the bat:
- Full Facebook login integration (user info + image are showing in cs-cart and used for checkout)
- Facebook Like / recommend
- Facebook Comments integration (when user leaves a comment on a product, it will show on his wall, preferably along with the product image)
- Show Fanbox in your website (easy integration of the Facebook fans in a Block section)
- Export to a Facebook store
- Gift Registry: in addition to the email option, give the FB user the possibility to select his Facebook friends and notify them of his Gift registry list)
- Send this to a Friend: same as Gift registry, give the user the option to select his FB friends and send them info about the product.
Here is an interesting link on ways to integrate Facebook to an ecommerce website:
[url]http://www.getelastic.com/facebook-connect-for-ecommerce-is-it-right-for-your-business/[/url]