Facebook announced that it has begun testing a new shopping feature for its mobile app.
Dubbed as Canvas, the new feature lets users shop on Facebook using the new immersive ads that they see in their News Feed.
As explained in a new blog post, Canvas works by displaying fast-loading apps on Facebook. Unlike the older versions of the ads, the new ones load faster, which increases the chance of users seeing and buying the advertised product.
From the loaded ads, users will be able to browse through the various offered products before heading over to the retailer's website to make a purchase.
"Over the coming weeks, we'll begin testing a new experience on Canvas," Facebook posted. "After clicking on an ad, people will see a fast-loading, full-screen experience where they can browse through a variety of products, before going to the retailer's website to purchase."
This feature goes hand-in-hand with another new addition called Shop, which can be found under Favorites, according to Engadget. First introduced last month, this feature shows the offerings of various brands that have partnered with Facebook.
The new section also comes with a search bar to allow users to easily look for the products that they want to buy. Facebook noted that it plans to expand the functions of this feature by listing items that are for sale in Facebook Groups.
According to the social networking giant, these new additions were designed to connect users with businesses in an easier and more practical setting.
"We want to build native experiences that make it easier for both people to discover products on mobile and businesses to drive more sales," Facebook wrote in the blog post. "Some of our efforts are fully launched and are already creating value for people and businesses. Others are in early test phases. These tests will evolve as we get more feedback."
Currently, the new features are only available to a handful of users. Since they are still being tested, some of their functions could change once they are officially rolled out to the public.
The addition of Canvas and the Shop section are only some of the latest changes that Facebook has made to its site. Last week, the company redesigned the News Feed interface to accommodate users with slow Internet connections, NBC News has learned.
According to the company, those on weak 2G networks will only get to see articles and status updates instead of data-heavy pictures and videos. This is the company's way of letting users maximize their social networking experiencing without being hindered by bad connections.
