Facebook announced this week that it is testing a new ad type that can give people a way to discover and buy products on Facebook. The ad unit promises to help businesses drive sales through the both the News Feed and Pages.

How It Works

The example Facebook provided shows a sponsored post where a Page "shared a product." The ad also contains:

• A description
• An image
• The product name
• Pricing (along with standard pricing if it has been marked down)
• A "Buy" button

People that click the "Buy" button will be able to purchase the product directly from the business without leaving Facebook. This feature should help reduce the friction caused by leaving Facebook to visit an external site and increase an ad's conversion rate, especially for low-involvement purchases.

Facebook hasn't yet revealed what the purchase flow would look like but cover privacy and security.

We’ve built this feature with privacy in mind, and have taken steps to help make the payment experience safe and secure. None of the credit or debit card information people share with Facebook when completing a transaction will be shared with other advertisers, and people can select whether or not they’d like to save payment information for future purchases.

The ad unit displays on both mobile and desktop and is currently being tested by a small group of US small and medium-sized businesses. Though no plans for general availability were shared, commenters reacted favorably to the plans. Offering  and commenters on the announcement were generally excited about the prospects.