From the 10th of August 2023, Meta has started phasing out the shopping and product tagging feature on Instagram and Facebook business accounts and will be streamlining its very own e-commerce strategy to drive more in-platform shopping on both Instagram and Facebook. This shift will now require companies to have their own in-app checkout in order to offer an integrated shop on both platforms. Compared to previously, companies would create a shop that linked to their own website.

This change will first be tested in the United States only, with the potential to expand to other international markets depending on the results.

What does this mean for you?

Businesses are no longer able to use the previous features associated with Shops which includes product tagging in all organic posts, reels and stories. This means that if your shop had a direct link to your e-commerce site for customers to complete a purchase, it would no longer be available.

If you’re not in the US, Meta have said they will be developing a solution for businesses located in 21 international countries, and at this moment, these countries will still have access to their shop/product tag features.

The international locations include:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. and Ukraine.

For little ol’ New Zealand, it’s goodbye to Facebook and Instagram shops and product tagging, at least for now.

So how can you work around this?

Although the features have been taken off the platform for us, we’ve done some research and have popped together some tools you can use to find new customers and still drive sales to your website.

Meta ads
Invest in your marketing spend by connecting with customers based on their interests through Instagram itself. You also still have the availability to run ads with product tags on Instagram which does not require you to have a shop on either Instagram or Facebook.

Instagram Reels
If you haven't already, now is the time to invest in short-form video content to be discovered by future customers who are not already following your brand. Your best-performing Reels can then be used in your ads funnel.

Link in Stories
Generate clicks to site by including links in your stories. A strong call to action (e.g. “Shop here”) will help too.

Messaging Ads
Using the messaging tool on your Facebook and Instagram pages to run click-to-message ads which help connect you directly with your customers. Messaging allows businesses to sell and market their products without leaving the chat thread.

We think something bigger is coming, so watch this space for exciting updates. But for now, keep pushing your business through authentic marketing efforts, and make sure you have the experts on-side to advise you along the way.