What are shops ads on Meta?
Shops ads send each person either to your website or to your shop on Facebook or Instagram, whichever Meta predicts is more likely to lead to a conversion. You build one as an Advantage+ sales campaign with the website conversion location, then turn on the shop switch in the ad's personalized destinations. You need a shop first.
A shops ad splits the traffic: some people go to your brand’s website, others to your shop on Facebook or Instagram, depending on where Meta thinks each person is more likely to buy. Meta describes shops ads as a fit for direct-to-consumer, retail and beauty consumer packaged goods businesses that want online product sales in the US.
What do you need before you start?
| Asset | Permission Meta asks for |
|---|---|
| A shop on Facebook and Instagram | Full control of the commerce account, or the shops permission |
| A Facebook Page or Instagram account connected to the shop | Full control of the asset, or ads permission |
| A catalog connected to the shop | Full control of the catalog, or create ads permission |
| A Meta Pixel | Connected to the catalog your shop uses |
| An ad account | Full control, or manage campaigns permission |
Sellers who manage products and orders on Shopify, Magento or Adobe Commerce can create a shop from those platforms and use shops ads.
How do you create a shops ad?
- Go to Meta Ads Manager, click + Create and select Sales.
- Choose campaign settings, then move to the ad set.
- Pick add to cart, add to wishlist, initiate checkout, purchase or view content as the conversion event.
- Choose your ad set settings and move to the ad.
- Select a format, then pick Website as the main destination and enter your URL.
- In Personalized destinations, click Edit, open the Shop tab and turn on the shop switch.
- Choose your shop and a shop destination: home page, product page or collection.
- Optionally add a promo code or offer, then publish.
With Advantage+ catalog ads on, the performance goal must be Maximize number of conversions or Maximize value of conversions. Meta recommends leaving the box checked that lets it send people to the shop destination most likely to improve performance.
Why does a shops ad only send people to the website?
Meta says this happens when your shop has a technical problem, or when a setting breaks a shops ad requirement:
- Audience: must include a location where shops ads are available.
- Placements: at least one of Facebook or Instagram feed, Stories or Reels.
- Conversion event: only the five events listed above.
- Format: with a catalog, carousel or collection only; without one, single image, single video or carousel. Meta’s own eligible-formats list on the setup page also names collection from a manual upload, so its pages disagree; the stricter list is the safe one.
- Destination: an app, Facebook event or Instant Experience removes the shop.
- Shopify product set: must hold only products from a US-based Shopify store.
Edit the ad set or ad to meet these and republish.
FAQ
Can I still choose the website and shop conversion location?
No. Meta’s setup steps say the website and shop conversion location is no longer available. You select Website as the main destination and then turn on the shop switch under Personalized destinations, which is what makes the ad a shops ad.
Can a partnership ad be a shops ad?
Yes, with limits. Meta says shops ads using partnership ads only work with single image and video ads, and with carousel ads using manually uploaded creative. Advantage+ catalog ads aren’t supported for that combination.
Do I need a shop to run shops ads?
Yes. A shop on Facebook and Instagram is the first requirement on Meta’s list, along with a Page or Instagram account and a catalog connected to that shop, and a pixel connected to the catalog.
Sources
- About shops ads (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Create a shops ad with Meta Ads Manager (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
- Why your shops ad may only send people to your website (Meta, checked 2 Oct 2026)
Drafted with AI and checked claim by claim against the pages linked under Sources. Found a mistake? Tell us via the corrections policy.