Facebook’s Shop tab arrives in the UK and Canada

Facebook today announced Facebook Shop, a new experience for retailers and businesses on its mobile app. It will be adding a tab within the main Facebook app that will let users buy products directly from the app. This is distinct from Facebook Marketplace, a service that exists to facilitate peer to peer purchases.

Facebook is also bringing Facebook Shops (distinct from both) to a global market. Earlier this year, Facebook launched Shops in the U.S., saying:

Right now many small businesses are struggling, and with stores closing, more are looking to bring their business online. Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers. That’s why we’re launching Facebook Shops and investing in features across our apps that inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier.

Now, it’s expanding this feature globally and adding customization features including “new design layouts for featuring multiple products, real-time preview of collections as they are designed, the ability to automatically create Shops for new sellers, and new insights to measure results in Commerce Manager.”

Facebook will also expand the availability of its Instagram checkout feature to all eligible businesses based in the United States. This allows brands to sell products directly to customers in the Instagram app, provided they are verified as authentic by the company.

The company says it will be waiving trading fees for businesses to reduce hardship as a result of the pandemic. So businesses can keep all their revenue through the end of the year for products they sell through Instagram checkout.

You can read more about the new shopping experience here.