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Retail

Meta phases out Facebook and Instagram shops checkout by August 2025

Meta transitions shops to website checkout, giving merchants increased control over customer experience while ending on-platform transactions.

Luis Rijo

• 7 min read
Meta shops transition to website checkout affects how customers browse and purchase products on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta shops transition to website checkout affects how customers browse and purchase products on Facebook and Instagram.

Meta announced in June 2025 that it is gradually transitioning shops from checkout on Facebook and Instagram to website-based checkout systems. The company confirmed that most shops will complete this transition by the end of August 2025, fundamentally altering how businesses handle transactions on the social media platforms.

According to Meta's announcement, the change means customers will no longer complete purchases directly within Facebook or Instagram. Instead, they will be redirected to merchant websites to finalize transactions. This shift grants business owners greater control over their checkout experience, payment processing, and post-purchase customer relationships.

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Summary

Who: Meta (formerly Facebook) and businesses using Facebook and Instagram shops for e-commerce transactions

What: Transition from on-platform checkout to website-based checkout for shops, discontinuing payment processing, order management, and customer service features within Meta's Commerce Manager

When: Gradual implementation beginning June 2025, with most shops transitioning by August 2025; shops connected to third-party order management systems will transition at a later date

Where: Facebook and Instagram platforms globally, affecting shops across all markets where Meta's commerce features are available

Why: To give merchants greater control over checkout experiences, reduce shop setup complexity, and allow businesses to manage payments, delivery, returns, and customer service through their own websites and preferred systems

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The transition affects multiple aspects of how businesses operate on Meta's platforms. Shops will retain their discovery features, including storefronts, collections, and product pages, but the transaction completion moves off-platform. Meta stated that this change reduces the complexity of shop setup and maintenance for merchants while providing more flexibility in customer experience design.

Timeline and implementation details

Meta began implementing these changes in June 2025, with the company conducting a gradual rollout rather than switching all shops simultaneously. The social media giant indicated that merchants receive advance notification before their specific shop undergoes the transition. Shops connected to third-party order management systems, including Magento and Adobe Commerce Cloud, will be updated at a later, unspecified date.

The announcement specified that the transition affects various shop configurations differently. Merchants whose shops currently use website checkout will need to build and add checkout URLs unless they use Shopify for order management. Those with hidden shops must decide whether to make their storefronts visible during the transition process.

According to the announcement, businesses using checkout on Facebook and Instagram must fulfill existing orders before their shops transition to the new system. The company emphasized that draft advertising campaigns created before the checkout removal will automatically update to use website conversion locations with shop personalization features enabled by default.

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Impact on advertising capabilities

The checkout transition significantly modifies available advertising options for shops on Meta's platforms. The Website and shop conversion location will be discontinued, requiring advertisers to select the Website conversion location instead. To maintain Meta's ability to direct users to either shops or websites based on conversion likelihood, advertisers must enable the "Use shop to personalise buyer journey" setting.

According to Meta's documentation, several conversion events will no longer be available for shops ads. The platform will only support the Purchase conversion event, eliminating View content, Add to cart, and Initiate checkout options. This limitation reduces the granularity of campaign optimization for merchants who previously relied on these intermediate conversion points.

Shops ads will continue directing users to destinations that Meta's algorithm determines most likely to result in conversions. However, the transition changes how the platform calculates and reports these outcomes. The company noted that shops-assisted purchases will likely increase since all transactions now occur on merchant websites rather than within Meta's ecosystem.

Changes to reporting and metrics

The transition eliminates several checkout-related metrics that previously tracked on-platform activity. Meta purchases, Meta checkouts initiated, and Meta purchase conversion value will no longer be available after shops complete the transition. Merchants may see these metrics in historical data, but they will not apply to future campaign performance.

According to the announcement, the date range selected in advertising reports determines metric availability. Events that occurred before shop transitions may still appear in reporting, but merchants should understand that these represent historical rather than current performance indicators.

Meta recommends that businesses connect third-party reporting tools, such as Google Analytics, to maintain comprehensive insights about their shop advertising campaigns. The company emphasized that merchants should use alternative metrics to track purchases driven by their shops, as the previous on-platform measurement capabilities will no longer function.

Commerce management feature discontinuation

The transition eliminates numerous features that merchants previously used to manage post-purchase experiences through Commerce Manager. Meta confirmed that payment processing for shops will be discontinued, preventing businesses from conducting transactions within Facebook and Instagram environments.

Order management capabilities will end for transactions placed after the migration occurs. According to the announcement, merchants will no longer access order status information, download order histories, or manage orders in bulk through Commerce Manager. The platform will maintain archived data for existing orders but will not support ongoing order management functions.

For Shopify sellers specifically, Meta indicated that order attribution will be temporarily lost during the transition period for orders connected to Facebook and Instagram shops. Pre-order sellers face additional restrictions, as orders scheduled for fulfillment after certain dates will not be available for on-site transactions, though Meta has not specified these dates.

Financial and dispute resolution changes

Meta's announcement confirmed that payment processing will be completely discontinued for shops using the previous checkout system. Merchants will retain access to balance information, payout history, financial reports, tax forms, and charge history as archived data, but only for a limited time after the update occurs.

The platform will no longer provide chargeback or dispute resolution services for shops. According to the documentation, merchants cannot view, manage, or check the status of chargebacks for new orders through Commerce Manager. This change transfers financial risk and dispute management entirely to merchant websites and their chosen payment processors.

Customer communication through Commerce Manager's Inbox feature will also be discontinued. Businesses must establish alternative communication channels for customer service and post-purchase support, typically through their own websites or integrated customer service platforms.

Technical requirements for merchants

Merchants face specific technical requirements depending on their current shop configuration. Those using website checkout must build and add checkout URLs to maintain functionality, unless they use Shopify for order management, which provides integrated solutions.

Delivery profiles must be added for shops not using Shopify order management. According to Meta's guidance, catalogue preparation is required for merchants not using Shopify for catalogue management. This includes validating that product variants on websites can be added to catalogues and merging catalogues used for shops with those used for Advantage+ catalogue ads when necessary.

The company recommends that merchants connect datasets to track customer interactions with products, though this remains optional. Additional recommendations include updating product prices and availability, ensuring Meta pixel content IDs match catalogue information, and adding multiple images, size charts, and rich text descriptions to product listings.

Implications for the digital commerce landscape

This transition represents a significant shift in Meta's approach to social commerce. The company launched Facebook Shops in May 2020, positioning itself as a direct competitor to e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Shopify by enabling transactions within its ecosystem.

The move to website-only checkout suggests Meta is prioritizing advertising revenue over direct commerce transaction fees. By maintaining discovery features while redirecting transactions to merchant websites, the platform preserves its advertising value proposition while reducing operational complexity associated with payment processing and order management.

The timing of this announcement coincides with broader industry discussions about platform dependency and merchant autonomy. Meta has continued expanding its advertising capabilities, including recent additions of custom offer details to Instagram ad call-to-action buttons, indicating the company's focus on advertising optimization rather than direct commerce facilitation.

Digital marketing professionals note that this change may improve campaign attribution and conversion tracking by consolidating all transactions on merchant websites. However, it also removes the simplified onboarding experience that attracted many smaller merchants to Facebook and Instagram selling.

Industry context and competitive positioning

The checkout transition occurs as social commerce continues evolving across platforms. Meta's decision contrasts with other social media companies that maintain on-platform purchasing options, though the company's scale and advertising sophistication may provide alternative value propositions for merchants.

The platform's analysis of advertising technology trends suggests that successful merchants increasingly require diversified approaches to social selling.

The transition affects thousands of businesses that built their social commerce strategies around Meta's integrated checkout system. However, the company's emphasis on maintaining advertising effectiveness through algorithmic destination optimization may preserve conversion rates even as transaction completion moves off-platform.

Meta's announcement indicates that the checkout change will not affect shops connected to major third-party order management systems initially, suggesting the company recognizes the complexity of enterprise-level integrations. This phased approach may provide insights into merchant adaptation rates and technical challenges associated with the transition.

Timeline