Why Aren't More Merchants Developing For Facebook?

Why aren't there more merchants utilising social media sites? I admit you see loads of them "marketing" their offerings by communicating with others they know. They may set up groups around their products or services such as the Warner Bros one for The White Stripes. But very few go out of their way to build applications to go with them.

I found a great one on Facebook today. It was the Firebox Wishlist Application. I don't think it was created by Firebox, but they should have. Wishlists are perfect for the social network model. There are some great examples out there including eBay and Amazon.

Then there's retailers that have applications that allow you to buy products for other face book users directly or suggest products for people to buy for you:

• Social Flowers
• Delivery.com
  

It just amazes that me that there is a real lack of UK merchants that offer their products on Facebook. It would be perfect for companies such as Advanced MP3 Players as they offer products that create a buzz. A potential application could be for people to list their gadgets and rate them. Then accessories could automatically appear as well as upgrades etc.

I couldn't see any dating sites that target the UK site. I'm not sure how any gadget could work because I'm sure that many people wouldn't want their friends to know that they're on a dating site.

Another one could be useful to our friend James Avery of FlightMapping.com. Here's a couple of ideas. You could have a "I've done this trip - do you want to?" - basically a list of trips people have made utilising their flash-based routes tool.

Another idea would be for people planning on taking a trip or holiday and offering people the opportunity for others to join them by giving a price comparison tool.

There are some ticket exchange sites. People could say which gigs they're going to, or want go to and they could include an application for Viagogo to buy the tickets.

There is one affiliate entrepreneur that has created the Price Comparison application. I'm amazed that there aren't more affiliates out there doing this.

I'm not technical enough to do it. I best get "networking" to find someone that is!