Among the tools that Facebook released for developers at F8 last week was one that allowed Messenger users to click on a retailer like Spring and scroll through a product list while in the chat app. But to actually buy one of Spring’s products, users have to jump to a slow-to-load mobile web page.
Another problem: Someone trying to buy a bouquet on 1-800-Flowers on Messenger has to type their credit card information into the app the first time they use it—even if Messenger already has their information. And if they later use any other retailer app on Messenger such as Spring, they’ll have to do it again, at least for now.