Meta: changes to social commerce feature starting Aug 10

Meta Platforms Inc today announced that businesses in Asia Pacific (APAC) will no longer be able to host a shop on their Facebook or Instagram page or use product tagging in posts beginning Aug 10.

The following changes apply to businesses with a shop on Facebook or Instagram in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region:

For Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand

Businesses can continue using Shops and associated features until further notice.  People can continue viewing your shop on the Facebook and Instagram mobile apps. People can no longer view your Facebook shop and associated features from a computer on facebook.com or from mobile web on m.facebook.com.

Other countries in APAC

Shops on Facebook and Instagram and associated features are no longer available, including product tagging (in posts, Reels and stories) and creating custom and lookalike audiences derived from people who visited a shop.

People can no longer see your shops and associated features if your shop is located in these countries.

On Instagram, ads with product tags are still available. Businesses running ads with product tags do not need to take any action and campaigns are not affected.

The location of a shop is determined by the location of the commerce account that it is associated with. The location of the commerce account is determined by the location of the account’s creator (if created after 1 April 2023), or the location of assets such as an Instagram profile or Facebook Page associated with the commerce account (if created before 1 April 2023).

Note: Businesses that are based in APAC but have a commerce account and associated shop located in the US can enable checkout on Facebook and Instagram for people in the US if they meet the requirements. Learn more about changes to Shops in the US.

(Source: Facebook)