When Did Facebook Shops Launch?

Meta’s newsroom post “Introducing Facebook Shops” carries the date 19 May 2020. It says Meta was starting to roll out Facebook Shops that day and that the feature would be more widely available in the coming months. A shop was a single online store a business could set up for customers to reach on both Facebook and Instagram. The post gives no country-by-country dates.

What did Meta announce on 19 May 2020?

Meta described a free, single storefront for Facebook and Instagram. According to the post, a business could:

• Choose the products it wanted to feature from its catalog.
• Customise the shop with a cover image and accent colours.
• Show the shop on its Facebook Page or Instagram profile, and reach people with it through stories or ads.

Shoppers could browse the collection, save products and order either on the business’s website or, where the business had enabled checkout in the US, without leaving the app. The post also said people would be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct from a shop.

Meta’s current help pages still send you to Commerce Manager to build collections for your shop, so that setup is where you start today.

What else did the launch post promise?

The same post announced related plans, not all of them live on day one:

• Instagram Shop in Explore, starting in the US “this summer”.
• Live shopping, where products from a shop or catalog could be tagged before going live. Meta said it was starting to test this.
• A test of connecting loyalty programs to a Facebook account.
• Closer work with partners including Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce “to give small businesses the support they need”.

Treat these as 2020 announcements. The post does not say which of them are still available, so check Commerce Manager for what your account offers.

What do Meta’s help pages say about shops now?

Meta’s current help page says shops “allow you to create a customized digital storefront across facebook and instagram”. It also lists a shop as a requirement for shops ads. A banner on the same page says some features related to shops and checkout are no longer supported, and links to a page about recent changes. Meta’s developer post of 29 July 2026 says: “The checkout directly on Facebook and Instagram experience for Shops has been fully sunset.”

Meta’s page on supported countries, as checked on 2 Oct 2026, gives the full shops and shops ads experience to the United States, excluding US territories. It lists other countries as open beta or as limited, and says sellers in the limited group cannot run shops ads. Meta’s shops ads page describes shops ads as aimed at selling online in the US.

How should you use this history today?

• Open Commerce Manager and confirm your shop exists and which country its commerce account sits in.
• Do not assume in-app checkout. The 2020 post tied it to the US, and Meta now warns that some checkout features are gone.
• If you run shops ads, make sure the shop is connected before you build the campaign.
• You do not need a shop to boost posts with product tags, according to Meta’s help page.

FAQ

Was Facebook Shops free to create?

Yes, according to Meta’s 2020 launch post: “Creating a Facebook Shop is free and simple.” That sentence is about setting up the shop. The post says nothing about advertising costs, so check your own Ads Manager for those.

Can shoppers still check out inside Facebook and Instagram?

Meta’s launch post limited in-app checkout to businesses that had enabled it in the US. Meta’s help page says some shops and checkout features are no longer supported, and its 29 July 2026 developer post says checkout directly on Facebook and Instagram for Shops “has been fully sunset”. Check the “recent changes” link on that help page.

Do I need a shop to advertise products?

Not for every product ad. Meta’s help page says you need a shop to run shops ads, but you do not need one to create ads with product tags or to boost posts with product tags. Check your campaign setup to see which option fits.