Facebook said in a blog post that it would 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 may still use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but you won’t be able to make product playlists or tag goods in your Facebook Live broadcasts, according to the social media platform.
Following a number of smaller trials and beta testing, livestream video shopping was made accessible to the general public on Facebook two years ago. The function was created to provide companies and artists with an interactive approach to market products, engage with viewers, and maybe 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’ watching habits move 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 via video. To facilitate further exploration and deliberation, you can also tag goods in Reels on Instagram. You can set up Live Shopping on Instagram if you own 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 several years. The business started testing “Live Shopping for Creators” in November. Instead of restricting visitors to a single page, the launch enabled artists and businesses to cross-stream on both of their sites. 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 including Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Sephora, and Abercrombie & Fitch were highlighted in the presentation.
Thanks to selling fees imposed 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 extend its live e-commerce “TikTok Shop” effort to the U.S. and more regions of Europe. Facebook isn’t the only digital behemoth trying to cut down 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 via livestreams akin to QVC. However, the business had internal issues and failed to acquire momentum with customers. According to The Financial Times, the expansion plans were shelved when 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 seems that outside of Asia, consumer awareness and acceptance of live purchasing are still limited since both Facebook and TikTok are abandoning their live shopping initiatives.
