Mindanaotoday.com | FB ‘live shopping’ removal alarms Oro online sellers
By: Franck Dick Rosete
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Some of the online live sellers here felt bothered right after they heard the news about the upcoming removal of “live shopping” feature on social media giant Facebook (FB).
When the said information has circulated in the social media, some of the Kagay-anon live sellers have expressed their concerns as doing live selling has been their main source of living, especially amid the ongoing threat of Covid-19.
Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of FB, has recently announced the upcoming removal of “live shopping events” feature on the said social media platform starting on the first day of October.
Meta, however, clarified that FB can still be used for broadcasting live events but users can no longer create product playlists or tag products in the live video.
“Beginning on October 1, 2022, you will no longer be able to host any new or scheduled Live Shopping events on Facebook. You will still be able to use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but you won’t be able to create product playlists or tag products in your Facebook Live videos,” Meta said through their business help center.
Sarah Fatima Vallar also known as “Madam Kolera,” a known online seller here with over 51,000 followers on FB and over 230,000 followers on TikTok, stressed that removing the live selling opportunity would have a huge impact to her business.
“Of course. Dako siyag (It has a huge) impact sa ko (to my) business kay (because) so far maayo ang kita sa akong pag (I have a better income when it comes to) live selling,” Vallar said.
Meanwhile, Carmela Bartolaba, a 19-year-old live seller from Barangay Carmen who sells bags and wallets, felt sad about the news and stressed how she needs the live selling business to support their financial needs, especially now that she is pregnant.
“That [live selling] is the only source of income we have so that I can help my family and aside from that, I am pregnant. Online selling is also a big help because that’s where I can make income so that we could buy our needs,” she said.
Apart from online sellers, a worker from a local shop here that also sells products through Facebook Live, also expressed concern about the recent announcement of FB.
Jehaziel Jane Florano, a customer service representative of a local clothing shop here, said she is worried about the possibility of losing her job as the removal of live selling could probably affect the sales of their shop.
“Gabalaka ko kay basin mugamay among sales ug basin magtang-tang og trabahante (I am worried because our sales may decrease and maybe they [the shop] would reduce their workers),” Florano said.
She couldn’t provide an estimated amount, however, Florano said that their sales from live selling are better compared to their sales in their physical store situated at one of the malls in this city.
“The sales are better online because we have a bigger scope. We ship nationwide and the owner also spends money for the advertisement,” she said.
‘Live shopping’ feature clarification
In an online post from Upmesh-Philippines FB page, a live commerce system, it clarified that the live shopping feature, that will be removed by Meta, is only available to users in the United States.
“If you’ve seen this news about Facebook shutting down its Live Shopping feature in October, don’t panic! This feature was only available to users in the US and not in Southeast Asia. What we’ve been using is the Live Videos feature, where we not only make sales, but also entertain and make connections,” the online post said.
Based on Meta’s live shopping tutorial on YouTube, the live shopping feature on FB allows users to create a product playlist and the “Add to cart” and “Product details” buttons can be seen during the live video.
This is the feature that FB will remove starting October 1.
“You will still be able to use Facebook Live to broadcast live events, but you won’t be able to create product playlists or tag products in your Facebook Live videos,’” Meta said.
The said feature is also different from the way Filipinos do their live selling where they only use the “Live Video” feature on Facebook and use the “mine” system in the comment section in buying items.
The buyers would only comment the word “mine,” alongside with the product description provided by the seller, if they want to buy the item that has been flexed by the live seller during the video.
According to Meta, FBas well as Instagram will be focusing on Reels, a short-form video product of Meta, as the consumers’ viewing behavior is shifting to the said type of video.
“If you want to reach and engage people through video, try experimenting with Reels and Reels ads on Facebook and Instagram. You can also tag products in Reels on Instagram to enable deeper discovery and consideration,” Meta added.
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