Meta turns to AI to make shopping easier on Instagram and Facebook

Meta is looking to leverage AI’s ability to inform and potentially influence shoppers to increase sales on the company’s social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram. At the Shoptalk 2026 conference this week, the tech giant announced it will begin testing a new experience that allows consumers to see more product information and a summary of user reviews after they click on an ad or visit a website from Facebook or Instagram. The feature is similar to Amazon’s use of generative AI to enhance its product reviews, introduced in 2023. Instead of requiring users to read through hundreds of reviews to get a sense of what people say about a given product, Amazon uses AI to summarize the reviews into a short paragraph that appears on the product page. Meta will also use AI in the same way. In the new pop-up experience that appears, the AI feature can offer a round-up of “what people are saying” about the given product. This may include a brief intro followed by key bullet points. Image Credits:Meta However, in Meta’s apps, the feature will also provide other general information, including details about the brand itself, recommended products, potential discounts or sales, and, on an individual product’s page, a button to add the item to the user’s cart. Image Credits:Meta This is then followed by an updated checkout flow, built in partnership with payment providers Stripe and PayPal, which allows consumers to complete the purchase in just a tap. Meta says it’s already working on other integrations with Ayden and Shopify, which will roll out in the future. The advertiser is in control of which checkout partner they use, so when a consumer taps the “Buy Now” button, they can complete the purchase and fulfill the order, while the user remains in Meta’s app. Image Credits:Meta The changes to checkout come alongside other updates to Meta’s product discovery tools and features. This includes an update aimed at creators that offers an expanded range of affiliate partners for them to work with on Facebook, as competition with TikTok heats up. The affiliate additions include Amazon, eBay, and Temu in the United States, Mercado Libre in Latin America, and Shopee in Asia. On Instagram later this year, Meta will also test affiliates like Amazon (U.S.) and Shopee (Asia). The partners will choose which products they want featured and set the commission rates for sales that the creator receives when someone buys through their account. In addition, Instagram Reels creators will gain access to product catalogs from businesses in 22 countries that will help them find products to feature in their videos. Topics AI, AI, Apps, Commerce, commerce, e-commerce, Facebook, Instagram, Meta, Social, social commerce Sarah Perez Consumer News Editor Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal.

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