It had all gone a bit still on the f-commerce front recently, with brands focusing their strategies elsewhere and big-name players quietly bowing out of the game, but a couple of new developments may breathe some life into the dwindling sector yet.

First up, Facebook’s mobile app install ads didn’t see much fanfare when it was launched back in October, but several of the big brands using it have demonstrated ways of using the ads to push commerce, essentially turning Facebook into a mobile shopping device.

Simply, the ads allow users to download client apps from Google Play or the App Store, and are proving surprisingly successful. Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab.com (one of Facebook’s biggest advertisers), tells Business Insider that the tool is “five times more effective than any other mobile download channel that we’ve used”.

Adtech software licensing company Nanigans also reports testing the app for an unnamed e-commerce company and, as a result, seeing the client move into the top five downloaded apps on Facebook within 10 days of the campaign starting (the campaign which cost $325,000 and delivered 32.5 million ad impressions).

Elsewhere, image-based e-commerce company Stipple has launched interactive image tags for Facebook, allowing businesses to push engagement and purchases directly through the Facebook News Feed.

Brands can now add small Flash elements to single images, including – crucially – a ‘shop’ button with real-time pricing and product information, allowing purchasing without the need to click through to a Page or install an app.

Two indications, then, that there’s still hope for f-commerce; one a slow burner, the other a fresh way of thinking. But as Google has recently acquired Channel Intelligence in a bid to boost its own e-commerce efforts, Facebook will need more of the same.