Removal of Facebook Live Shopping Feature
On August 4, 2022, Facebook officially announced that the company will close its live shopping feature on 1st October and shift its focus to the short video Reels business.
Facebook explained: “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. If you want to reach and engage people through video, try experimenting with Reels and Reels ads on Facebook and Instagram. You can also tag products in Reels on Instagram to enable deeper discovery and consideration.”
While shutting down its live shopping feature, Facebook has invested heavily in its short-video feature, Reels. The feature was launched last year, and the company even hopes to imitate TikTok's algorithm to vigorously promote the development of the short video business. Like Facebook, Instagram, which is owned by parent company Meta, is making a big push for short-form video. Instagram's CEO has said it will shift its focus to video, and one of the changes is to display videos and photos in full screen.
Facebook launched live shopping feature about two years ago, opening up another revenue stream for creators on the platform. Influences can bring goods, display and sell various products through live broadcasts.
The feature is designed to give creators and brands an interactive way to sell merchandise, connect with audiences and reach new customers. The company has since expanded that functionality with new options.
However, live shopping feature is not doing well in many countries, and Facebook isn't the only digital giant looking to scale back its live shopping plans. TikTok has reportedly abandoned plans to expand its live-streaming e-commerce “TikTok Shop” to the rest of the US and Europe.
In Asia, especially in China, live shopping feature is becoming more and more popular. However, with both Facebook and TikTok dropping their live-streaming shopping plans, it appears that general awareness and adoption of live-streaming shopping by consumers outside of Asia remains low.
