Only 0.6% of online shopping is driven by social media, compared to e-mail, which drives 27%. Can Facebook’s Buy button, integrated into newsfeeds, encourage people to spend more when they're on social media? And are retailers really welcome on such a personal platform?

As technology and banking fuse, new quick and easy payment opportunities are emerging on social networks. One of France's largest banks, BPCE, is trialling a new service on Twitter that lets anyone transfer money simply with a tweet.

More and more retailers are embracing social media, but there is still uncertainty about the best way to use it. Given this, should social media marketing be viewed as an opportunity, a necessity, or is it all just keeping up with the Joneses?

What do you normally use Facebook for? Chatting to friends, or maybe scrolling through endless selfies? It turns out that a lot of users log into the site to browse products, and Facebook wants to enhance the experience by introducing its own dedicated shopping section.