1-800-Flowers.com received a lot of praise recently for being the first e-commerce retailer to set up shop on Facebook.com. Using a few very simple techniques, you too can follow 1-800-Flowers.com’s lead.
When you first visit 1-800-Flowers’ Facebook Page (//www.facebook.com/1800flowers) you’re immediately shown a coupon code while being asked if you’d like to become a fan. 
What works about this technique is that you’re not too overwhelmed by all of the “flair’ on the main wall or Fan page. You can chose not to become a fan and instead skip to the Wall.
The Wall. 
Using simple social media strategies, the folks at 1-800-Flowers have engaged their customers by responding to their posts and making their “Fans” feel appreciated. It’s a win-win situation for the e-retailer when you have Fans paying you a compliment and in turn show them your appreciation. Aside from a few simple notations about their URL and Twitter address, most of the work on page is done by the fans.
The Info Page. 
The Info page for 1-800-Flowers.com is careful not to be too boastful with their product which is a welcome sight to most consumers. A little information can go a long way and 1-800-Flowers does a good job telling you who they are (in case you didn’t know already), what their mission and products are as well as other social media outlets you can find them.
The Storefront. 
What has put 1-800-Flowers.com on the map for their Facebook experiment is the storefront they’ve “opened” on Facebook. Using the coupon code you obtained when you first came to the site, you can shop 1-800-Flowers.com’s inventory without ever having to leave the site. Should you enjoy your shopping experience, you can head back over to the Wall/Fan Page and post a short update about your positive experience.
Without spending a lot of money, 1-800-Flowers has created a lot of buzz for their site and their Facebook store. While operating a store on Facebook may be a little more complex, setting up a Facebook Fan Page — using 1-800-Flowers.com as an example — shouldn’t take you more than 10-20 minutes (depending on how adept a Facebook user you are).
Have you set up a Facebook Fan Page for your site? Leave us your URL and we’ll take a look at it and perhaps contact you for a Facebook Fan Page close up!
Israel Meneses says
How do you think they get their shop to be in their fan page? iframe?
You always have great articles!!
I’m going to check out their fan page, I like it and would like to set up something similar to this!!
Thanks
Eric says
Thanks for the kind comments. Glad you like the content of the site.
To answer your question, they are using an “app” for that.
The app they are using is provided by a company called Alvenda.
You can find out more about them and the app by going to the following link:
http://www.alvenda.com/
Israel Meneses says
I could not find a tutorial on how to set something like this up! a lot of them do not go into detail! do you know if there’s a tutorial on how to create a page and then make it your home page?
Thanks again
Eric says
Israel,
When you say “create a page” and “make it your home page” are you referring to Facebook, your own website or what? Just need to know more about what you are looking to do in order to provide you with the information you are looking for.
– Eric
Israel Meneses says
Yes, create a page “special offers” in facebook and then make it your home/landing page “http://www.facebook.com/myname-here” and also how to create a page with an iframe.
Thanks
Israel Meneses says
Check this one out! here’s another example of what I’d like to create, notice the “HOT” page is the landing page.
http://www.facebook.com/PizzaHut
Israel Meneses says
Found this post.
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/08/how-to-configure-your-facebook-page/
I still can’t get add the tab to menu…:)
Rob says
Hi Eric –
The Alvenda app looks exactly like what I am looking for!!
My facebook fan page is http://www.facebook.com/astrologix . My ecommerce site is http://www.astro-logix.com .
I am also looking for a discount coupon app for my page. Any ideas?
Cheers,
Rob
George Jackson says
Hi Eric. In the course of setting up a Facebook page for my business, I read about a lot of things to do, some offered by FB themselves such as “Follow Us on Facebook” link to put on my site, Creating Fan Badges etc. Each bit of info, led to extensive links or code and the message “Add this to your webpage”…. Where? is what I want to know. Nowhere I can find does it say where in my website code to add the code Facebook or whoever is giving. Would you be able to advise me on that so we can take even a tiny step closer to using Facebook to promote our site. Thank you in advance.
George
Erin says
George,
I would treat your FB widget/badge similarly to how you would add a Paypal or similar widget/badge.
In fact, a lot of people tend to group their widgets/badges together. Without knowing what your site looks like or what your code looks like, it’s difficult to say for sure.
Lemy says
Hi, i am also interested on implementing this for my website http://lemy.co.uk
Any progress has been done?
thanks!