• The social network platform will offer a store location map as part of its suite of advertising tools for retailers
  • Retailers will be able to track how many shoppers visited their store after seeing their ad
  • Facebook will monitor which shoppers made purchases in store as a result of a retailer’s ad

Facebook has launched advertising technology that will allow retailers to track shoppers’ in-store visits via their mobile ad campaigns.

The social media giant has launched new GPS tracking technology through its mobile platform that will allow retailers to monitor which of their ads led to store visits and purchases.

The platform has introduced a suite of new advertising tools, including a store locator that retailers can include in their carousel adverts to allow mobile shoppers to find their nearest retail outlet and technology that tracks how many Facebook users visited a store after seeing a retailer’s advert on the social media platform.

The social network has also partnered with in-store sales system providers including IBM on its offline conversions tool. The partnership will allow Facebook to match retailer’s customer data with its advertising data to see which adverts users saw online that led to a retail purchase.

Facebook vice-president of monetisation and product marketing Matthew Idema said: “The shift to mobile has happened, but the vast majority of sales take place in store.

“With these products, Facebook can now drive people to your stores from mobile and measure the results for your business.”

Over 12 months, the social media titan has developed dynamic ads, tested a ‘buy’ button on retailers’ brand pages and launched its ‘chatbot’ direct messenger service, which allows retailers to communicate with shoppers directly.

However, this is the first time that the social network has used its platform to track bricks-and-mortar purchases as well as online shopping.

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