How to Change the Checkout Method on Facebook Shop

Decided you need to switch how customers pay on your Facebook Shop? You're not alone. Whether you’re moving from on-platform checkout to your own website or vice versa, changing your shop’s payment method involves a few more steps than just flipping a switch in a settings menu. This guide will walk you through exactly what your options are, explain the process step-by-step, and give you the straightforward answers you need to get it done.

Before You Start: Understanding Facebook's Checkout Options

First, it's good to be clear on the different ways customers can check out on Facebook and Instagram and why you might choose one over the others. Your checkout method determines the entire customer journey, from adding an item to their cart to plugging in their payment details.

Meta offers three primary checkout methods for your shop:

1. Checkout on Facebook or Instagram

This is the most seamless option for the customer. They never have to leave the app to complete their purchase. They can use their saved payment information (Meta Pay), making the process fast and convenient. This method is only available to U.S.-based businesses right now.

• Pros: Reduces friction, which can lead to higher conversion rates. Builds trust as customers stay within the familiar Meta environment. Simple for mobile shoppers.
• Cons: You pay a selling fee (transaction fee) to Meta on each sale. You also have less control over the customer experience, branding, and data collection compared to your own site.

2. Checkout on Your Website

This is the most common option. When a customer taps the "View on Website" button on a product, they are redirected to that product page on your ecommerce store (like Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce) to complete the purchase.

• Pros: You have complete control over the user experience, branding, and upsell opportunities. You capture all customer data directly and avoid Meta's selling fees (though you'll still have your own payment processor fees). You drive traffic directly to your own web property.
• Cons: It adds an extra step for the customer, forcing them to leave the app. This extra friction can potentially lead to more abandoned carts if your site isn't mobile-optimized and speedy.

3. Checkout with Messaging

This interesting option directs potential customers to start a conversation with your page on Messenger or Instagram Direct. It’s ideal for businesses selling custom products, high-ticket items, or services that require a conversation before purchase.

• Pros: Excellent for relationship-building and providing personalized service. You can answer questions, offer custom recommendations, and build a strong rapport before the sale.
• Cons: It's not scalable for businesses with high sales volume. It requires you or your team to be highly responsive to messages to avoid losing the sale and can create a slower, more manual purchase process.

The Hard Truth: You Usually Can't Just "Switch" Methods

Here’s the part that catches most people by surprise. Once you have chosen a checkout method and set up your shop in Meta Commerce Manager, you cannot simply change it from a dropdown menu. For example, if you set up your shop to use Facebook and Instagram checkout, you can't just log in and switch it to "Checkout on my website."

For most shops, changing the core checkout method requires you to delete your current shop and its commerce account, then start the setup process over from scratch, selecting the new method you want. It's frustrating, but it’s how Meta’s platform is structured. Think of the checkout setting as a foundational choice, not a flexible feature.

Ready to move forward? The following steps outline this process.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Change Your Checkout Method

Because this process involves deleting your existing setup, it's wise to proceed carefully. Follow these steps to ensure a smooth transition from your old shop to your new one.

Step 1: Back Up Your Product Catalog

Before you delete anything, save your product data. If you’re manually managing your catalog in Commerce Manager, you don’t want to lose all that hard work. If your catalog is synced from a partner platform like Shopify, this step is less critical, but still a good idea as a safety net.

1. Navigate to your Meta Commerce Manager.
2. Select your catalog on the left-hand menu.
3. Go to Catalog > Data Sources.
4. Look for the option to export your products. Meta is constantly changing its UI, but this is sometimes found under your feed settings. You should be able to download a CSV file of your product data.
5. Save this file somewhere safe on your computer.

Having this backup means you can easily re-upload your products to your new catalog later, saving you dozens of hours of manual entry.

Step 2: Delete Your Current Commerce Account

Now it's time to remove the old shop infrastructure. Deleting your commerce account is permanent and will remove your current shop and its associated catalog from public view on Facebook and Instagram. Be 100% sure you want to do this before proceeding.

1. From your Meta Commerce Manager, go to Settings.
2. Look for a section related to your Commerce Account settings. You should see an option to "Delete Commerce Account" or "Edit" your business information which will lead you there.
3. Meta will show you several warnings about what this action entails (e.g., your Shop will be removed, you'll lose insights, etc.).
4. Confirm the deletion. This process can sometimes take a little while to fully process.

Step 3: Create Your New Shop with the Correct Checkout Method

With a clean slate, you can now build your new shop with the checkout method you want. You’ll do this from the same Commerce Manager interface.

1. In Commerce Manager, click "Add Shop" or a similar prompt to get started.
2. Follow the setup prompts. The system will guide you through picking the pages you want to connect (your Facebook page and Instagram profile).
3. This next step is the most important one. The setup will ask you to choose a checkout method. You'll see the options we discussed earlier: "Checkout on another website," "Checkout with Facebook or Instagram," and "Checkout with messaging." Select the one you want for your new shop.
4. If you choose "Checkout on another website," you’ll be prompted to enter your site’s domain. If you select on-platform checkout, you'll need to set up your payment processing and shipping information with Meta.
5. Finish the remaining setup steps and submit your shop for review.

Step 4: Repopulate Your Product Catalog

Once your new shop is approved and live (though empty), it's time to add your products back in.

• For E-commerce Platform Users (Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.): The easiest way is to re-establish the connection between your ecommerce platform and your new Meta Commerce account. The sales channel extension or app on your platform's backend will guide you through syncing your existing product listings to the new catalog.
• For Manual Catalog Users: If you're managing products manually, go back to Catalog > Data Sources in your new Commerce Manager. Here, you can choose to upload a file. Find that CSV file you saved in Step 1 and upload it. Check that all the data fields (title, price, description, image link) map correctly before you finalize the upload.

Step 5: Organize Products into Collections and Test the Flow

Your shop is live and your products are in, but the work isn't quite done. Your previous product collections will have been deleted along with the old shop, so you'll need to recreate them.

• Create collections (e.g., "New Arrivals," "Best Sellers," "Summer Collection") to make your shop easy to navigate.
• Next, perform a test purchase. Go to your shop from the customer's point of view and try to buy something. Click through a product, add it to your cart, and go through the entire checkout flow you just set up. Does it direct to your website correctly? Is the on-platform checkout smooth? Make sure everything works as expected.
• Finally, update any social media posts or ads that might have linked to your old shop. Announce the "new and improved" shopping experience to your audience!

Final Thoughts

Changing your checkout method on Facebook is less of a simple switch and more of a "rebuild," requiring you to delete your existing Shop and create a new one. By understanding your options and following a careful process of backing up data, deleting the old commerce account, and setting up the new one, you can successfully make the transition without losing your valuable product information.

Once your shop's checkout is exactly how you want it, the real work of driving traffic begins. At Postbase, we help businesses streamline this process by making it incredibly simple to plan and schedule engaging content across all your platforms. By maintaining a consistent presence with compelling posts, Reels, and Stories, you keep your audience excited and guide them seamlessly to your revamped shop - letting you focus on growing your brand without the chaos of managing social media manually.