Facebook officially rolls out food ordering as part of longer-term commerce evolution

Last October, Facebook announced a number of tools and partnerships supporting local discovery and commerce on the app. Among them were the following:

• Booking and food ordering for Pages
• Social recommendations
• Local event discovery

Last week, Facebook “officially launched” food ordering on Facebook. The platform is working with delivery aggregators and restaurant chains directly in order to be comprehensive:

Facebook combines options from a number of food ordering services like EatStreet, Delivery.com, DoorDash, ChowNow and Olo, as well as restaurants like Jack in the Box, Five Guys, Papa John’s, and Panera, so you don’t have to search through multiple places to find what you’re looking for. From local spots to national chains, Facebook connects you with old favorites and new discoveries in just a few taps. You can even check out what your friends have to say about a restaurant before you order your food.

Everything is managed within the Facebook app. Indeed, the company anticipates you’ll search for food, read reviews and then complete the transaction all through the app.

This kind of end-to-end experience adds greater utility for consumers and ultimately generates more revenue for Facebook via paid media — apparently there are no transaction fees for Facebook in this product.

Food ordering should be seen in the context of a larger and longer-term evolution at Facebook. Beyond its transition over time into a media company, Facebook has been building commerce tools and capabilities, many of which are directed toward local and offline transactions.