Facebook is going to shut down its live shopping feature soon in an effort to shift focus to Reels, the company announced in a blog post.
After October 1, the live shopping feature much loved by creators and brands will no longer be available, and users will not be able to host any new or scheduled live shopping events on Facebook, the blog post on Facebook-owner Meta’s Business Help Center read.
The Facebook Live feature is not going to vanish in thin air, however. Users can still use the feature to broadcast live events. They simply will not be able to create product playlists or tag products in their Facebook Live videos.
While Facebook rolled back the live shopping feature, it offered the users two more avenues for selling products on their platform. The blog post encouraged the use of Reels and Reels ads on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the Live Shopping feature on Instagram.
Facebook first debuted the live shopping feature in Thailand in 2018. It was rolled out on a wider scale in 2020. The feature was designed to give creators and brands an interactive way to sell items, connect with viewers and potentially gain new customers.
