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Mondelez announced this week that it "will continue to add “Buy Now” buttons to owned, earned and paid media platforms across 25 markets, linking to over 130 retailers’ websites". You click on the button and it takes you to an online retailers' website. So, does this move from Mondelez mean that social media can start to show you the money if you are an FMCG brand?

Making it easier to SMS

The Buy Now buttons should, in theory, help overcome one of the barriers to FMCG brands monetising social media. Up to now, there has been only an indirect link between social media and selling more stuff (SMS). In contrast, with online brands you are only 1 click away from buying something.

It is encouraging to see that the Buy Now button has been through "A successful pilot phase in 20 markets with over 100 retailers", suggesting that the early signs are positive.

Will you make a one-off chocolate purchase?

It will be interesting to see how Buy Now works for impulse purchase products like chocolate and candy. On many occasions you don't just want to buy now, you want to eat now. Also, a pack of Trident gum or Oreos will be part of a much larger online shopping trip on most occasions. Will you want to go to the trouble of clicking through to an online retailer to make this a one-off purchase?

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We've been here before…

I posted two years ago on another service that allowed you to link it to the online shopping basket of your preferred online retailer. Clicking on the Slingshot button on a brand's webpage added the item to your next shopping basket. This seemed smart as it added the item to your next online basket, rather than asking you to buy it now as a one-off. 

I don't know how Slingshot has done, but the signs from their webpage are not that promising. Two of the four websites featured had broken links to Facebook. And a third was for a discontinued product. Hmmmm….

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So, it will be interesting to see how the Buy Now button works for Mondelez. If it is successful, it is a big step forward for social media, making it more likely that it can show you the money if you are an FMCG brand.