Facebook has decided to discontinue the sales of its own products to focus more on helping other businesses promote theirs. The discontinuation of Facebook Gifts, scheduled for August 12th, will halt the sales of gift cards for companies like Starbucks and iTunes. Facebook confirmed the existing team responsible for these sales will not be laid off, and most have already transitioned to other commerce ventures within the company. Instead of selling directly to users, Facebook plans to spotlight its Buy button and streamline the ecommerce purchasing process on its platform.
Facebook doesn’t wish to solely profit from its own Gifts store or by inundating users with Gifts prompts on friends’ birthdays. Citing its official statement on the closure, Facebook explained, “We’ll be applying everything we learned from Gifts to explore new ways to assist businesses and developers in boosting sales on the web, on mobile, and directly on Facebook.”
The objective isn’t to replace existing stores but to simplify the checkout process, display ads leading to purchases, and demonstrate the effectiveness of these ads. Strategies include features like the Buy button that lets users purchase within Facebook and Autofill for quick billing information input in other shopping apps. Facebook’s Custom Audiences service lets physical stores retarget their existing customers with tailored Facebook ads.
Facebook introduced Gifts in September 2012, as a charming online shop within its platform for buying confectioneries, plush toys, wine, and gift cards for friends. However, this service didn’t naturally align with Facebook’s user experience and faced criticism from many users. The company transitioned to selling gift cards, which made up 80% of its sales. Despite this, the service was not successful enough, leading to the discontinuation of the Gifts feature.
Moving forward, Facebook is shifting its focus to aiding businesses in selling more to Facebook users rather than directly selling to them. Facebook’s Buy button allows businesses to list products with a purchase option within Facebook. This feature, in conjunction with Facebook’s new multi-product ads, could result in a micro-store of purchasable products within the social media platform.
Although Gifts didn’t succeed, it facilitated a deeper understanding of user needs for Facebook, leading to the introduction of new features to enhance its ecommerce services. Facebook plans to use its extensive user data to streamline and bolster sales transactions on its platform.
Light edits were made in 2025 to improve clarity and relevance.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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