Good for deals? Stores using Facebook as virtual storefront

Online shopping is nothing new. Facebook has been around for years. But the combination of both is gaining popularity.  

Many stores have Facebook pages but some are beginning to sell products directly through their Facebook walls.

Lindsey Arambula is like many of us, she's busy. She loves to shop but her busy life leaves little time for that.  

Lately she’s spending more time using Facebook as a shopping tool.  

She follows the store Junky Trunk in Mesa on her Facebook feed.

“She'll post a deal everyday. I think I'm getting better bargains by doing it on here because department stores and other stores in the mall don't do a sale everyday,” explained Arambula.

Stores post coupons and update customers on sales all the time on Facebook, but now some stores are taking it a step further.  

The Polkadot Alley , based out of Texas, is an online store that is selling products directly through their Facebook wall.

“In a matter of a minute they post 'sold', we invoice them, it's free shipping. It just takes all of the work out of it,” said Ashley White, owner of The Polkadot Alley.

White is a mother and a former teacher who has grown her online business into a family operation.

“We just hired my mother on full time. We are a full-time family business. My sister-in-law, my mother and I. She is now handling all shipping,” said White.

Just seven months ago, White began selling products via Facebook. Since then, she said sales have skyrocketed.

“We sell out of almost everything every time lately. We just hit 20,000 fans yesterday which we are thrilled about,” explained White.

Meantime, she warns that it’s not easy money.  Anyone thinking about venturing into a Facebook business should know that you can’t lock the door and turn out the lights.

“It is a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week, holidays-included job. 100 percent!” said White.  

Arambula said she’s saving money and saving time thanks to more stores going social.

“It's almost like a personal shopper that you don't have to pay for. I love that!”

You can find Mesa’s Junky Trunk and Texas’ The Polkadot Alley on Facebook right now.