Marketplace — Menlo Park social networking giant Facebook’s online storefront — celebrated its second birthday on October 2nd , 2018.
In honour of Marketplace turning two, Facebook announced two new AI features intended to streamline buying and selling.
According to an October 2nd, 2018 media release, Facebook users looking to sell products on Marketplace will now receive price range suggestions for listed items.
Additionally, Marketplace will suggest categories for identified items, making it easier to upload a seller post more quickly.
Facebook says that individuals looking to sell an office chair, for example, will not only receive a price range suggestion between $50 to $70 “based on what similar chairs recently sold for,” but that Marketplace will also “automatically categorize the chair as ‘furniture’ based on the photo and description, so that you don’t have to.”
The company is also currently testing an AI camera feature that allows users to take photos of product they want to purchase and Marketplace will the suggest listings for similar products nearby.
“Say you liked your friend’s headphones and wanted your own; you could snap a photo of the headphones and Marketplace’s AI technology could recommend similar listings for sale nearby,” said Deborah Liu, vice president of Facebook Marketplace, in the same October 2nd media release.
Marketplace first launched in Canada in July 2017. According to Facebook, vehicles, furniture and electronics are the most popular Marketplace categories globally.
Source: Facebook
