Facebook is shutting down its live shopping feature in October to focus on reels.
In a blog, Meta said, “Beginning on October 1, 2022, you will no longer be able to host any new or scheduled Live Shopping events on Facebook. You will still be able to use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but you won’t be able to create product playlists or tag products in your Facebook Live videos.”
The company launched lives shopping in August 2020 to make online shopping easier and empower retailers of all types to grow their businesses after a series of several successful trials. The platform provided an interactive way for retailers to sell items and connect with viewers more deeply through the live shopping events and potentially help them find new customers.
Facebook will no longer allow retailers to host new or scheduled live shopping events. The social media giant will instead focus on reels., meta’s short-form video product available on both Facebook and Instagram.
Meta says, ” As consumers’ viewing behaviours are shifting to short-form video, we are shifting our focus to Reels on Facebook and Instagram, Meta’s short-form video product.”
The Facebook live feature will still be available but e-commerce merchants will no longer create product playlists or tag products. If you want to reach and engage people through videos without relying on Reels and Reels ads on Facebook and Instagram, you will have to seek other avenues for selling items on the app like purchasing display ads or tagging products in Reels on Instagram to enable deeper discovery and consideration.
Meta says, “If you have a shop with checkout and want to host Live Shopping events on Instagram, you can set up Live Shopping on Instagram.”
Notably, Facebook isn’t the only social media app that is discontinuing its live shopping feature. TikTok recently dropped its plans to expand its live-e-commerce shop initiative in the US and some parts of Europe according to TechCrunch.