• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, April 7, 2011

Video game retailer GameStop will launch a Facebook site today tapping Adgregate Markets to secure social commerce through the ShopFans platform. The company touts the move as the first multichannel gaming company to launch a storefront on Facebook and provide social commerce to more than 1.8 million Facebook fans.

The store launch reflects the rapid innovation of Facebook commerce, from the early days of rigid store templates and widgets to full-out, cutting-edge shopping experiences. GameStop's Facebook store relies on rich media, such as product videos, reviews and ratings, store finders, and product carousels, as well as the social signals Likes and Shares.

Lou Kerner, social media analyst at Wedbush Securities, believes the move begins a new era in social stores that will take advantage of Facebook's social graph. "Companies are feeling a lot more comfortable about leveraging social media with commerce on Facebook, compared with commerce on their own site," he says. "Things are early, and people typically don't view Facebook as a commerce destination, but it's our belief that will rapidly change."

Companies are more comfortable experimenting with commerce on Facebook, compared with their own Web sites, since errors could influence quarterly earnings. Large companies struggle to reward risk, so as a result they don't take a lot of risk with their Web site, according to Kerner.

Expect commerce to evolve on Facebook similar to the way it did on the Web, Kerner says. Social will have a major impact on dot-coms for both traditional online and offline stores, he says.

One major impact comes with GameStop's decision to enable fans to pre-order purchases on hot games for guaranteed in-store delivery pickup, thereby integrating its online and offline operations in Facebook. The store also will allow fans to earn and redeem points when making purchases in Facebook in its PowerUp Rewards loyalty program. The storefront integrates into Facebook's social graph, allowing fans to promote and discuss upcoming titles and new releases with the option to purchase directly from the McAfee secured storefront.

Adgregate's ShopFans secure social commerce transactions on Facebook using Symantec's VeriSign, McAfee, and TRUSTe.