Facebook’s first retail partner, Everlane, drops Messenger and goes back to email

Online retailer Everlane had used Messenger instead of email for sending messages for orders and shipping updates. It also used the platform to allow customers to send questions to its customer service team. While the latter is still being used, notifications will now be sent through email. Everlane was one of the two launch partners in 2015. Once the feature had been changed, Everlane emailed customers, informing them about the new change.

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When they first partnered with Facebook, CEO Michael Preysman told Recode that “over time we think this will become a way to not only build stronger relationships with customers, but to ultimately drive demand and new purchases.”

In a note to shoppers, Everlane said that it was a good couple of years but they had decided to revert to emails and that’s what they do best.

Facebook had seen more opportunity with mobile commerce within Messenger. However brands maybe finding it difficult to turn Facebook's messaging app into a commerce channel. Though they use apps such as Twitter and Messenger for queries and customer service, getting a step ahead and using them for transactions and personal information may be a challenge.

In 2014, Facebook hired former PayPal President, David Marcus, to run its Messenger service in a move to transform the platform into a commerce and payments engine. Although retailers like Tommy Hilfiger and Burberry have ventured into this area, the results have not proven to be very impressive.

One may wonder how this shift will affect business and also how it may influence similar businesses. Time and again, email has proved to be a good means of communication between businesses and customers, and the purpose seems to be served efficiently. However, mobile push notifications seem to be a strategy adopted by online retailers to increase frequency and interaction.