My startup operates in this space (http://venpop.com http://venpop.com) and we see this kind of thing all the time. One of the biggest problems is that the hyp

My startup operates in this space (http://venpop.com http://venpop.com) and we see this kind of thing all the time. One of the biggest problems is that the hype of Social Commerce has driven large, big-name players to make large, big-dollar bets on the space. They'll wind up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a fancy storefront, and they have no chance of making their money back. So, they shut them down... and it's giving the whole industry a bad name (via articles like this) because of over-execution against unjustifiable expectations. Stores are making money on direct sales, but they're not raking it in. They're doing a lot more by staying in touch with their customers, offering them deals, and ensuring they stay top-of-mind throughout the year with their likely holiday buyers. But, some retailers were determined to turn Facebook into a Point of Sale destination... and they're so insistent on seeing returns on the social "channel" that they'll actually start putting up links and promotions to drive people to Facebook instead of their own website. It's pretty irrational. A few months ago our CEO also did an interview where he talked about what a bad idea this was as well: http://allthingsd.com/20110822/venpop-makes-a-case-against-adding-shopping-carts-on-facebook/ http://allthingsd.com/20110822/venpop-makes-a-case-against-a...