To explain how Messenger Business works, Mr. Marcus used an
example of someone buying a shirt from Everlane's site.
If someone's signed into Facebook in the same browser they're
using to shop, they'll see a prompt asking if they want to receive
instant shipping updates within Messenger. After the order is
placed, they'll see another prompt asking if they want to receive
their order details within Messenger.
With the ordering process complete, that person can open up the
Messenger app and see a new message thread with Everlane. That
thread will contain the order details and shipping info, and the
person can check back to see the package's latest location plotted
on a map. The person can also tap on the receipt to change their
order within Messenger or ask Everlane if the shirt is available in
another color. In the example, Everlane replied saying that the
different colored shirt is available and detailing the total price
to buy it. The person could click on a blue "thumbs up" button
within Messenger, which effectively completes the purchase.
But Facebook isn't only opening up Messenger to businesses. The
company is also turning Messenger into its own Facebook-like
platform to which non-Facebook apps can post content through a
program called Messenger Platform. The demonstrated examples
focused on creating GIFs within an app like Giphy and clicking a
button to share a GIF to a friend through Messenger.
ESPN, The Weather Channel and "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams'
production company Bad Robot are among the first 40-plus companies
with apps that incorporate Messenger, Mr. Marcus said. People will
be able to see a list of all the Messenger-compatible apps within
Messenger and can install them through the app.
Facebook also teased a couple of new video-related products that
could bolster its attempt to usurp YouTube's dominance.
The company plans to roll out support for 360-degree videos that
let audiences swivel the viewport to see all angles of a scene.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to these 360-degree clips as
"spherical" videos when making the announcement on stage on
Wednesday. YouTube added support for 360-degree videos
earlier this month.
And as of Wednesday, videos that are publicly posted to Facebook
can now be embedded on sites outside of Facebook. Making videos
embeddable and viewable outside of Facebook -- particularly on news
sites that contribute their own audiences -- could help Facebook in
its battle to rival Google's YouTube and escalate
the amount of video views beyond the 3 billion a day that Facebook
already generates.