Meta Transforms Facebook Marketplace with AI-Powered Social Shopping Features

Facebook Marketplace gets new collaborative and social features, Meta AI integrations | TechCrunch

Meta is overhauling Facebook Marketplace with new collaborative tools, social features, an improved checkout experience, and Meta AI integrations, the company announced Thursday. Marketplace is getting a new "collections" feature that lets users create groups of listings and invite friends to join. Users can get started by saving a listing, starting a new collection, and then choosing whether to make it public or private. They can then add friends to their collection and share updates through Feed, Messenger, WhatsApp, and more. Meta's also testing collaborative buying, which means users can invite a friend to join their chat with a seller. The company says this makes it easier to coordinate pickup, negotiate prices, and get answers to questions. These new collaborative features could be useful in instances when a group of roommates is looking to furnish their new apartment or when someone wants to keep their partner in the loop when discussing potential purchases. While Meta says the changes announced on Thursday are designed to make Marketplace more useful, they also mark the company's ongoing efforts to bring Meta AI into all of its services and products. Additionally, by blending social, commerce, and AI, the company is looking boost time spent on Marketplace while also enhancing its competitiveness against other e-commerce platforms. In terms of the Meta AI integrations, Meta is going to start using its AI tools to help buyers ask the right questions when making a purchase. Now, when users start a chat with a seller, they will see a "Suggested questions to ask" button. If they tap it, Meta AI will use the details from the listing and the conversation to suggest questions they might want to ask. Additionally, Meta is bringing AI insights to vehicle listings on Marketplace, noting that vehicles are among the top five searches for young adults. Now, when users view a vehicle listing, they'll see AI-generated insights that bring together key details like engine options, safety ratings, transmission type, seating and cargo capacity, reviews, and price information. Meta also announced that users can react and comment directly on listings. The company says this will help others learn about item quality and discover new finds. It'll be interesting to see how people react to this change, as Marketplace has had a simple design since its launch. Some might find the addition of reactions and comments as distracting, or even cluttering the service. Meta notes that if a user likes an item, Marketplace will learn what they're interested in and display more items aligned with their preferences. As part of its announcement, Meta said it began integrating eBay and Poshmark inventory into Marketplace earlier this year to give people more options when it comes to buying across categories like fashion and electronics. "Partner listings are marked with an icon on the listing image, and are integrated throughout your Marketplace feed so you'll see them while you're browsing," Meta explained in a blog post. "You can also see the listing and seller's information on the Marketplace product details page, and when you're ready to buy, you'll be taken to the partner's site for checkout." As for the improved checkout experience, buyers will now see total costs, including shipping and tax, upfront. They'll now also receive notifications as the status of their order changes.

Meta is trying to make Facebook Marketplace a social shopping experience

Meta is revamping Facebook Marketplace in an effort to make it more appealing to "young adults" on the platform. The updates includes new collaborative shopping features, as well as AI-generated suggestions and "insights" about specific listings. Now, would-be buyers can create Pinterest-like "collections" of Marketplace listings and invite friends to join. These collections can then be shared elsewhere on Facebook or on WhatsApp and Messenger. People will also be able to invite their Facebook friends to join messages with sellers, which Meta says will make it "easier to coordinate pickup, negotiate prices, and get answers to your questions." Facebook is also making Marketplace listings themselves more social, with the ability to add comments and reactions. And while I'm not sure many Facebook users are clamoring for this, it seems like it could seriously up the meme potential for accounts like @insanefbmarketplace. And, because it's 2025 and AI is in just about every other part of Facebook, the company is also adding "AI insights" to listings. This will allow Meta AI to offer up suggestions for questions to ask sellers about the items they've listed. (Importantly, though, it looks like the default first-message suggestion is still a variation of "is this still available," which I've always found to be one of the more annoying quirks of using Marketplace.) The company is also experimenting with vehicle-specific "insights" from Meta AI as car shopping is apparently one of the most popular use cases for Marketplace among younger adults. All of the updates are part of Meta's years-long mission to make Facebook cool -- or, at least, useful -- for "young adults." And the company has long touted Marketplace as one of the more popular features among that demographic. The company has also experimented with local events, a friends-only feed and bringing back the Facebook "poke."

Facebook levels up Marketplace with social features and AI support

Collaborative buying allows buyers to bring a friend into a seller chat for negotiation and pickup planning. Meta introduced new collaborative features, an improved checkout experience, and Meta AI integrations for Facebook Marketplace on Thursday. Marketplace now includes a "collections" feature, allowing users to create listing groups and invite friends. Users save a listing, start a collection, designate it public or private, then add friends and share updates via Feed, Messenger, or WhatsApp. Collaborative buying enables users to invite a friend into a chat with a seller. This facilitates pickup coordination, price negotiation, and question inquiries. These additions aim to enhance Marketplace utility and align with Meta's strategy to integrate Meta AI across its products, boosting time spent on the platform and its competitiveness against other e-commerce platforms. Meta AI integrations will assist buyers by suggesting questions. When initiating a chat with a seller, users will find a "Suggested questions to ask" button. Tapping this prompts Meta AI to generate relevant questions based on listing details and the conversation. AI insights are also being introduced to vehicle listings. Vehicles are among the top five searches for young adults. Viewing a vehicle listing now provides AI-generated insights, compiling details such as engine options, safety ratings, transmission type, seating/cargo capacity, reviews, and price information. Users can now react and comment directly on listings, which Meta states will provide insights into item quality and aid discovery. The company indicated this could help others learn about item quality and discover new finds. Marketplace will learn user preferences based on liked items, displaying more aligned listings. Meta began integrating eBay and Poshmark inventory into Marketplace earlier this year, expanding options in categories like fashion and electronics. Partner listings are marked with an icon on the image and appear throughout the Marketplace feed. The Marketplace product details page provides listing and seller information, directing users to the partner's site for checkout, as explained in a Meta blog post. The improved checkout experience displays total costs, including shipping and tax, upfront. Buyers will also receive order status notifications.