- What Commerce Manager is for in 2026
- The tabs you'll see and what each one does
- The one-catalog rule you can't undo
- How to set up a shop in Commerce Manager
- What changed when checkout moved to your website
- Who sees your business name when someone buys
- Getting insights once your shop is live
- My verdict
- Frequently asked questions
Facebook Commerce Manager is Meta's tool for managing a product catalog and a shop across Facebook and Instagram. You don't need a shop to use it, but if you set one up, checkout now happens on your own website: Meta moved Shops to website checkout in September 2025, so order management, payouts and returns no longer live in Commerce Manager.
That last point is what trips most people up. A lot of older guides still describe Commerce Manager as the place where you process orders, issue refunds and get paid. That version is gone. Today it's a catalog and storefront tool that feeds your ads and your shop, and the payment side happens wherever your website's checkout runs.
What Commerce Manager is for in 2026
Meta's own description is short: Commerce Manager is a platform to manage your catalog and sales on Facebook and Instagram. In practice you'll use it for three jobs.
- Holding your catalog. The catalog contains every product you want to promote on Meta's apps. Anyone can create one, shop or no shop.
- Running a shop. If you sell physical products, you can add a shop on Facebook, Instagram or both. That creates a commerce account and opens extra tools.
- Feeding ads. The catalog powers Advantage+ catalog ads (the format Meta used to call dynamic ads) once a pixel or app SDK is connected to it.
If you only run ads and never want a shop, a catalog is still worth setting up, because it's the thing that lets Meta show each person the products they looked at.
The tabs you'll see and what each one does
Meta's navigation guide lists the main areas. Here's what each is for and when you'll need it.
| Tab | What it does | When you'll use it |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | Summary of your catalog, issues to fix and suggested actions; sales activity if you have a shop | Every visit, to catch errors |
| Catalog: Products | Lists the items in your catalog | Checking prices, stock and images |
| Catalog: Sets | Groups of products you can advertise or feature as collections | Building a seasonal or bestseller ad |
| Catalog: Data sources | Where product data comes from (feeds, partner platforms, manual uploads) | Fixing a feed that stopped updating |
| Catalog: Events | Connects the catalog to a Meta Pixel or app SDK | Before running catalog ads |
| Shops | Set up and customise your storefront on Facebook and Instagram | Shop owners only |
| Ads | Ways to advertise products from the catalog | Starting a product campaign |
| Insights | Sales, product and audience performance | Only appears once you have a shop |
Two dropdown menus sit in the top left. The first switches between business portfolios, the second between commerce accounts and catalogs inside that portfolio. If a catalog seems to be missing, you're usually just in the wrong portfolio.
The one-catalog rule you can't undo
This is the detail I'd want someone to tell me before I clicked anything. A shop can connect to one catalog only, and Meta says you can't switch it to a different catalog later. You can keep editing that catalog, but you can't swap it out.
So before you connect a shop, decide which catalog is the master copy. If you've got test catalogs lying around from an old agency or a past platform, tidy them up first. Meta's advice is to work from a single catalog wherever you can.
How to set up a shop in Commerce Manager
Meta's setup flow has a checklist of tasks. In order, it looks like this:
- Go to Commerce Manager and click Get started, then Get started again on the Create your shop page.
- Pick your commerce platform, or choose I don't use these platforms if you'll manage products directly.
- Add sales channels: the Facebook Page and Instagram account the shop will appear on. You can sell on Instagram only without a Facebook business Page.
- Choose or create a catalog. Remember, one catalog per commerce account.
- Add business details: contact email, return window, a returns URL and a privacy policy URL.
- Agree to the Seller Agreement and click Submit for review.
- Add a checkout URL. Your shop isn't visible until it has one, because purchases now finish on your site.
- Set a default shipping profile with at least one shipping speed, then publish the shop once every task is ticked.
Meta says the review can take up to 4 weeks, and you'll see Not completed next to your shop info while it's in review. Plan launches around that. If you need products live for a promotion next week, start now.
What changed when checkout moved to your website
Since September 2025, Shops on Facebook and Instagram use website checkout. People still browse your shop's home page, collections and product pages inside the apps, but they finish buying on your site. Meta switched off the post-purchase tools that went with in-app checkout:
- Payouts: payment processing for Shops has stopped. You can still see old balances and reports as archived data for a while.
- Orders and returns: new orders are managed on your website or ecommerce platform, not in Commerce Manager.
- Disputes: Meta no longer handles chargebacks for new orders.
- Inbox: you can't answer customer messages from Commerce Manager any more.
On the ads side, the Website and shop conversion location has gone. You pick Website and keep Shops switched on under personalised destinations if you still want Meta to send some clickers to your in-app shop. Meta also notes that Meta purchase metrics now read zero for new activity, and it keeps historical data for up to 39 months, so don't panic if an old report looks empty.
If you're on Shopify, the most common setup, the Shopify side handles orders and checkout and Commerce Manager mirrors the catalog. That's the cleanest arrangement now. For a wider look at selling tools, my round-up of Shopify apps for a small store covers the order and checkout side.
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Who sees your business name when someone buys
For purchases made under the older checkout setup, Meta's help page is clear that Facebook and Instagram are never the merchant of record. A payment processor was, and sellers were the sub-merchant of record, responsible for tax reporting and product quality. With website checkout, your own payment provider handles the sale, which keeps things simpler for VAT and refunds.
To check that your pixel is firing, see my page on the Facebook Pixel Helper.
Getting insights once your shop is live
The Insights tab only appears for shop owners with the right commerce account permissions. It splits into Performance, Awareness, Tagged content, Catalog and Audience reports. The Audience report shows where shoppers arrive from plus their gender, age and languages, which is handy for checking whether your ads reach who you think they do.
If you've connected a Meta Pixel, Performance also shows website events, so set up tracking first. My guide to setting up conversion tracking for Meta ads walks through the pixel and Conversions API side.
My verdict
Commerce Manager is worth setting up if you sell physical products and run Meta ads, mostly for the catalog. Treat it as your product database for Facebook and Instagram, not your order desk. Get one clean catalog in place, connect your pixel, add a checkout URL, and let your website do the selling. And start the shop review early: four weeks is a long time to wait when a launch date is looming.
Tracking what shoppers do sits in a neighbouring tool, and my guide to Facebook Events Manager explains it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a shop to use Facebook Commerce Manager?
No. Meta says anyone can use Commerce Manager to create and manage a catalog, and you don't need a shop to do it. A shop is optional and only for physical products.
Can I take payments through Commerce Manager?
Not any more. Since September 2025 Shops use website checkout, and Meta has discontinued payment processing, order management and returns in Commerce Manager for new orders.
How long does Commerce Manager review take?
Meta says the review of a new commerce account can take up to 4 weeks, and it will email you if there's anything you need to fix.
Can I change the catalog connected to my shop?
No. You can edit the connected catalog, but Meta says you can't switch the shop to a different catalog later, so choose carefully.
