Facebook launches Shops to bring millions of small businesses online during the pandemic

Facebook announced that it is launching Shops, a service that will allow businesses to display and sell products on its platforms.

The shops, which will be powered by third-party services, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and Woo, are designed to turn the social network into a top-tier shopping destination.

Businesses can feature items in their shops, advertise them to users, and communicate with customers through the company’s messaging services. Shops will eventually be integrated across Facebook’s apps, including WhatsApp and Messenger.

Shoppers can buy products either through links to the businesses’ own websites or by using Instagram’s checkout feature, which enables purchasing within the app. Checkout will become available on Facebook in the future.

Facebook will roll out Shops to 160 million small businesses from May 20, and said it will be more widely available in the coming months.