With Facebook's recent announcement that brands now need to activate in-app checkout on their shops, find out how this change affects your brand.
Facebook and Instagram Shops have been game changers for businesses, providing a platform to reach millions of potential customers from around the world. I cannot begin to count the number of times I’ve visited, revisited, or bookmarked a shopping carousel ad on either Facebook or Instagram. With each view, click, or save, I’ve found my way back to the brand’s website doing a deep dive into some therapeutic window-shopping.
Welp, it seems like those days are coming to an end with the recent announcement from Facebook about the changes to their Shop requirements for brands. At this time, many brands are utilizing Shops to tag products in their posts and redirect customers directly to their stores for purchasing. By redirecting customers to their stores, brands were able to bypass Facebook’s processing fees and payout schedules. As of April 24, 2024, the days of directing customers away from Facebook and to an external website for checkout are coming to an end.
As a marketer, entrepreneur, or business owner, this shift can have major implications for your digital strategy; so buckle up, because we’re about to discuss all things related to the required in-app checkout feature on FB Shops and what it means for you moving forward!
What’s Happening?
The well-known social media giant is now forcing brands to activate in-app checkout on their Facebook Shops — forcing shoppers to buy within the platform itself. Facebook’s recent announcement on states that the platform will only continue supporting Facebook and Instagram Shops with in-app checkout enabled. This means that if you haven’t enabled checkout, you will be missing out on the benefits of a Facebook Shop.
Facebook’s adamant that the new policy emphasizes the importance of having an integrated and optimized shopping experience for your clientele. By enabling checkout, brands are able to provide a seamless shopping experience, get detailed audience insights that are harder to track cross-platform, set return windows, and allow shoppers to subscribe to their emails through the app.
These changes come as no surprise. Since the Apple iOS14 update, many platforms like Facebook have struggled to collect permanent data for successful ad targeting. In 2021, analytics found that 96% of US users opt out of app tracking in iOS 14.5 (Flurry). Though in 2022, the opt-out rate dropped to about 75% (Statista), customer insight continues to be an issue for brands and platforms alike.
With brand interactions happening directly in-app, Facebook will have the ability to get more insights into customer behavior and preferences, while bringing advertisers and platforms back to Facebook – which lately, they’ve been leaving in droves.
How Brands Can Leverage In-App Shops Checkout
With the right approach, businesses can use Facebook and Instagram Shops as a powerful tool to drive growth and connect with new customers. Here are a few ways Shops elevate your customers’ shopping experience.
Notifications for Browse Abandonment
Facebook Shops are sending browse abandonment notifications directly to customers. In recent years, brands have tripled down on their email marketing efforts, causing inboxes to become jam-packed with the average person receiving more than 121 business-related emails per day. That’s a lot of emails! While brands are smart to utilize email marketing, being that it’s low-cost and effective, emails have certainly become more stressful than joyful.
With notifications historically being a source of instant gratification – someone liking your photos, gaining new followers, or receiving new post comments – purchase reminders alongside these notifications can drive sales for brands.
App-Only Sales
The utilization of in-app sales is on the rise. Who doesn’t love a great discount? Between brands discounting goods to clear inventory to Facebook itself offering discounts and incentives on your first Shops purchase, customers reap the benefits of completing their purchase directly on the app.
Trusted Popularity Insights
There is nothing more important than creating demand and piquing the interest of potential customers. Luckily, Facebook Shops offers an incredible array of valuable insights that encourage customers to purchase your products.
By showcasing reviews, displaying the amount of saves a product has received, and highlighting the number of times it has been added to user carts, businesses can be sure that they building trust and credibility in their brand.
Prefill Payment Methods and 1-Click Checkout
It’s no secret that online shopping has come a long way over the years, but there’s still one pain point that can make or break a purchase: the checkout process. Typing in your payment and shipping information over and over again can be a major hassle, especially if you’re an avid online shopper.
With the ability to save payment information, billing and shipping addresses, and complete purchases with just one click, the checkout process has been simplified to provide a seamless experience for consumers utilizing Facebook Shops. While other e-commerce sites offer these benefits, having them all in one place across multiple brands is a game-changer. This convenience can help increase conversion rates and make purchasing products online a smooth and stress-free process.
Now whether you’re buying clothes, tech gadgets, or home goods, Facebook Shops’ streamlined checkout process ensures that your shopping experience is as smooth as possible.
Conclusion
All in all, Facebook’s decision to bring the checkout experience in-app will cause a significant change in marketers’ interaction with the platform. The change will not only will it be more convenient for customers, but it will also open up a wealth of data about their shopping behavior and make tracking conversions more accurate.
As more people migrate towards digital buying habits post-pandemic, this shift is likely to draw customers away from traditional e-commerce sites, bringing them directly to your online shop instead. To maximize the potential of your brand’s new Facebook Shop, or if you need help optimizing it further, consider booking a consultation with our team of experts. We can help you create an even better experience for shoppers—and better results for you.
