Operators of domain-based shops take note: Meta, the mother company of Facebook and Instagram, is changing its online selling policies.
Beginning June 5, 2023, onboarding of new shops via Commerce Manager and Shopify will only be with checkout on Facebook and Instagram enabled. This means that no new shops will be accepted without having sales transactions on the two social media platforms controlled by Meta.
Why is this bad for operators of domains and web sites?
Meta will contain the shopping experience on its platform and won’t allow for external transactions. If you set up a shop on Instagram or Facebook, it’d contain its traffic there, completing the sale on Meta’s social media platforms as opposed to checking out on your own web site, for example.
Beginning April 24, 2024, shops without checkout on Facebook and Instagram enabled will no longer be accessible i.e. shops that direct people to an ecommerce site to complete a purchase, rather than allowing people to make a purchase directly through Facebook or Instagram, or shops that use checkout with messaging.
Of course, operators of web sites are welcome to keep using their domain names and sell products directly; it’s just that shops won’t be able to direct their Facebook and Instagram shop traffic to their web sites in a year from now.
Isn’t it wonderful that Marc Zuckerberg envisions what’s best for you?
