Meta changes will impact FB and Insta Shops

On 11th May Meta (Facebook/Insta parent company) announced changes to their Shops feature which currently allows sellers to connect website shops to the Social pages.

Currently website owners can pretty easily syncronise their website shops catalogue to their Facebook and Instagram shop via a plugin which pushes product info up to Meta and it shows on the Shop tab of the Social Platforms. This sync can take place hourly or daily and saves the website owner alot of work while presenting their followers with a very easy method to shop their products. The customer sees a product which can be tagged in a post, clicks on the tag and they are redirected to the sellers website to review the product in detail and checkout.

Not so from 10th August 2023 when “Facebook and Instagram shops will no longer be available” according to the statement from Meta. They continue ..

“For businesses in your region, this means we will focus attention and resources on products like Advantage+ shopping campaigns, messaging, and Reels, which drive the highest performance and ROI, and give shoppers the most personalized experience.”

What this appears to mean is that Meta want shoppers to stay on their platform and complete the checkout experience on Facebook and Instagram – but not via a 3rd party website.

IMPORTANT – Ireland Is NOT listed as one of the countries where the Meta Checkout is available. So this may mean that Facebook and Instagram shops may not be available after 10th August 2023 to Irish sellers.

WHAT CAN YOU DO AFTER 10th AUG 2023

  • Personalised ads: Connect with customers based on their interests. Now globally available, Advantage+ shopping campaigns can help you get smarter about which campaigns are converting to maximise the ROI of your investment.
  • Reels: Create short-form video content to help potential customers discover your brand. Reels are the fastest growing format on Meta apps. Together with Feed, stories and messaging, Meta offers a suite of tools that can help you share your brand story, build connections and grow.
  • Messaging: Across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, you can run click-to-message ads that help connect you directly with new and existing customers. Messaging enables you to sell, support and market your products without leaving the chat thread.

OR 

  • Run Paid FB/Insta Adverts the link directly to your website (if you have one)
  • Consider Google Ads (recommended)
  • Consider Email Marketing (eg Mailchimp)
  • Improve your website SEO (recommended)

 

Read More – EMEA: Changes to Shops | Meta Business Help Centre (facebook.com)