Facebook Testing ‘Local Market’ Feature To Compete With Craigslist

According to Facebook product chief Chris Cox, the social media network has already become “like Craigslist” for people in Indonesia. Now, it appears that the company is experimenting with new ways to broaden its e-commerce ambitions.

Facebook is testing a feature called “Local Market” as a new way for people to buy and sell things on its platform, with collections that include Auto, Sporting, Toys, and Household. Earlier this year, the company launched “For Sale Groups” that allow users to list prices and pick-up locations for products that they want to sell. Local Market appears to be a new method to search for various categories of goods nearby without staying within specific groups.

“We are in the very early stages of testing new ways for more people to easily discover, buy, and sell items with other people on Facebook,” explained a company spokesperson.

The new feature has been spotted by some users in their Facebook iPhone app, appearing in place of the “Messenger” button at the bottom center of the screen. It allows users to view and post products including cars, appliances, furniture, clothing, household items, and books. Users were able to browse through different categories containing photos and prices. A user in Melbourne, Australia, shared the following screenshot with SocialTimes:

The testing of the new Local Market feature aligns with Facebook’s e-commerce strategy to date, with the company recently announcing that it is expanding its “Shop” section to curate items that businesses are selling from their Pages. At that time, Facebook explained that it was exploring the idea of also listing content being sold in Groups in this section, and it appears that Local Markets could be the initial implementation of this concept.

What does this mean for auto dealers?

There is the potential for Local Markets to be used by dealerships, provided that the initial testing is successful and Facebook rolls the feature out widely. It’s too early to know how this will play out, but it’s an interesting move by the social media giant, and we’ll be watching as more information becomes available.

Will Facebook’s Local Market feature pave the way for the social media network to challenge other local selling powerhouses like Craigslist?