Facebook said in a blog post that it will stop supporting live shopping on October 1 in order to concentrate on Reels. The firm states that after this time, you won’t be able to arrange or host any new live shopping events on Facebook. You can still use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but you won’t be able to make product playlists or tag products in your Facebook Live videos, according to the social media platform.
Following a number of smaller trials and beta tests, livestream video shopping was made available to the general public on Facebook two years ago. The function was created to provide brands and creators with an interactive way to market products, engage with viewers, and possibly attract new clients. Facebook claims that it is now focusing on Reels rather than live video shopping.
According to the company’s blog post, “as consumers’ viewing habits shift to short-form video, we are turning our attention to Reels on Facebook and Instagram, Meta’s short-form video product.” “Experiment with Reels and Reels advertisements on Facebook and Instagram if you want to reach and engage people through video. To facilitate further exploration and deliberation, you can also tag products in Reels on Instagram. You can set up Live Shopping on Instagram if you run a store with a checkout and wish to hold events there.
Facebook originally introduced live shopping in 2018 and has been experimenting with methods to make it more user-friendly and well-liked over the last few years. The company started testing “Live Shopping for Creators” in November. Instead of restricting visitors to a single page, the launch allowed creators and businesses to cross-stream on both of their pages. In order to encourage bigger firms to experiment with live shopping as a platform and spread awareness about live shopping on Facebook, the company also introduced “Live Shopping Fridays” last summer. Brands like Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Sephora, and Abercrombie and Fitch were highlighted in the presentation.
Thanks to selling fees applied at checkout, a live shopping network may have finally provided Facebook with a sizable cash stream. But it’s obvious from today’s news that Facebook is reconsidering its position on live shopping.
It was recently disclosed that TikTok has apparently abandoned plans to expand its live e-commerce “TikTok Shop” effort to the U.S. and more regions of Europe. Facebook isn’t the only digital giant trying to cut back its live shopping aspirations. The business introduced TikTok Shop last year in the UK, its first market outside of Asia, enabling brands and influencers to sell goods through livestreams akin to QVC. However, the business faced internal issues and struggled to acquire traction with customers. According to The Financial Times, the expansion plans were shelved after influential people pulled out of the initiative in the U.K.
Asia, especially China, is seeing a rise in the popularity of livestream shopping. However, it appears that outside of Asia, consumer awareness and acceptance of live purchasing are still limited because both Facebook and TikTok are abandoning their live shopping initiatives.