Facebook’s live shopping feature allows sellers to showcase products in real-time videos and enables viewers to purchase items without leaving the app. This highly interactive feature was launched in 2018 and has gained immense popularity since then. However, recent reports indicate that Facebook may be shutting it down soon. This has caused quite a stir among sellers and shoppers who heavily rely on this feature for their businesses and shopping needs.
Why is Facebook discontinuing live shopping?
Facebook has not yet released an official statement on discontinuing live shopping. However, experts speculate the following reasons behind this move:
- Declining revenues from live shopping commissions
- Inability to compete with other live commerce platforms
- Lack of seller incentive to use this feature over other channels
- High costs of operating live videos compared to income generated
Facebook earns a part of the sales revenue generated from products sold via live videos. However, it appears that incomes have been dwindling over time. The ecommerce landscape has become highly competitive with players like Shopify, Popshop Live, Talkshoplive, and others. Sellers seem to prefer using these channels more than Facebook Live shopping. The operational costs of bandwidth and resources required to support live videos are also quite high. Considering these factors, Facebook seems to have arrived at the decision to terminate this feature.
How popular was Facebook’s live shopping feature?
Despite the imminent shutdown, Facebook Live shopping had gained decent traction since its launch. Here are some key stats about its popularity:
| Metric | Stat |
|---|---|
| Launch year | 2018 |
| Countries launched in | Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Philippines, India, US, UK, Indonesia, Malaysia |
| Avg monthly views per video | 7000 |
| Max viewers per video | 800,000 |
| Buyers | 1.8 million |
As evident, the monthly views and buyer numbers point to steadily growing engagement. Sellers were also starting to host live shopping events more frequently across various product niches. The feature was at the cusp of maturity when rumors of its shutdown began circulating.
What did sellers have to say?
The news of live shopping feature removal has understandably irked many sellers. Here are some reactions and feedback shared by sellers using this feature:
Lack of adequate notice period
Most sellers complained about the lack of any advance notice before discontinuation. Had they known earlier, they could have made preparations to switch to other platforms in a smooth manner. Sudden shutting down does not give them enough time to make this transition seamlessly.
Loss of revenue and customers
Live shopping accounted for a major chunk of sales for multiple businesses. They are worried this will drastically plummet their incomes and lose them customers they had worked hard to acquire. Rebuilding the same consumer base on a new platform will require tremendous efforts and investments.
Absence of similar alternatives
Facebook provided the unique advantage of selling to users in real-time videos along with leveraging existing social media presence. Sellers believe this format cannot be easily replicated on other platforms. Losing this edge hampers their ecommerce potential significantly.
Many sellers also appreciated the interactive nature of live shopping that helped engage buyers better and drove more conversions. They will miss having this highly effective sales tool as part of their marketing arsenal.
What will be the impact on shoppers?
For frequent Facebook Live shoppers, this development means losing out on some perks and convenience offered by this format. Here are some key ways shoppers stand to be impacted:
No more impulse purchases
Watching the live videos and being able to instantly purchase liked products simplified impulse buying. The absence of this ease of purchase satisfaction will likely deter many spur of the moment orders.
Inability to interact with sellers in real-time
Shoppers often asked queries, requested specific product demonstrations, sought discount coupons etc directly in live videos. They appreciated the instant feedback received from sellers. Losing this real-time interaction minimized purchase clarity.
Potentially higher product prices
With lower sales volumes now across channels, some sellers may be forced to raise prices to sustain revenues. Indirectly, buyers may have to pay more for the same items bought earlier via live shopping.
However, experts believe most shoppers will adapt by shifting to other live streaming apps and websites. Though initially inconvenient, this transition should not impact them in the long run.
Will Facebook introduce an alternative?
There is no certainty yet if Facebook will launch an alternative to their live shopping feature in the future. Here are some possibilities experts envision:
Shopping via Instagram Live
Expanding Instagram Live for shopping purposes makes sense for Facebook. Instagram has over 1 billion active users with a strong shopping focus. Introducing live shopping here can help offset the loss on their main platform.
Live audio rooms
Facebook is testing Live Audio Rooms where sellers can pitch products just via audio. This will involve lower operational costs while still offering an interactive shopping experience. If received well, it could replace live videos.
Virtual shopping via Metaverse
Mark Zuckerberg aims to establish Facebook as a Metaverse company focusing on virtual worlds and ecommerce. Introducing immersive shopping experiences in virtual reality could be his longer-term strategy.
No alternatives
If live shopping was indeed cut down owing to poor revenues, Facebook may not invest in building an alternative at all. They could divert resources to other revenue streams like ads and virtual reality instead.
It is too soon to predict Facebook’s roadmap here. However, they are likely evaluating multiple options to enable social commerce going forward.
Are other platforms discontinuing live shopping?
Facebook seems to be an outlier in stepping back from live commerce. Other leading players show no signs of slowing down their live shopping efforts:
YouTube
YouTube launched live shopping features in 2021 and has been expanding them since. Video creators can tag and showcase products during live streams enabling viewers to complete purchases.
As discussed earlier, Instagram has been doubling down on shoppable live videos. They recently removed the one-hour limit on Instagram Live to encourage longer shopping sessions.
TikTok
TikTok launched TikTok Shop last year and added live streaming support in 2022. The company is betting big on social commerce and rivaling Instagram in this space.
It is abundantly clear that live shopping remains a highly strategic vertical for major social apps. Facebook’s exit seems more an anomaly rather than an industry trend.
Conclusion
In summary:
- Facebook is reportedly shutting down its live shopping feature due to reducing revenues
- Sellers relied heavily on this for sales and are disappointed with the decision
- For shoppers, it means losing out on impulse purchases and real-time seller interactions
- It is unclear if Facebook will introduce an alternative social commerce solution
- However, live shopping remains a core focus for other platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok
The live shopping space is definitely going through consolidation. Only platforms that can unlock true value for sellers and buyers will thrive in the long run. Facebook seems to have fallen short on this front. But other big players continue to double down on interactive live videos for ecommerce. It remains to be seen how Facebook course corrects in the future after abandoning a feature that once held much promise.