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When Facebook Messenger launched business use cases for the service in 2015, online retailer Everlane was one of its two launch partners.
But today, Everlane emailed customers to let them know that it is discontinuing using the messaging platform as a notification tool.
“It was a good couple of years, but we've decided to stick with what we do best — email,” the note read.
Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment.
Everlane had essentially used Messenger as an alternative to email, sending messages with order confirmations and shipping updates to customers who opted into the communication method. (From personal experience, I think it worked really smoothly.) It also allowed customers to send questions to customer service reps via Facebook messages. That last use case is still live.
When the partnership first started, CEO Michael Preysman told Recode that “over time we think this will become a way to not only build stronger relationships with customers, but to ultimately drive demand and new purchases.” It looks like that may not have happened.
The changes come as many retailers are starting to consider the Messenger service for the same notification tools Everlane just stepped away from. E-commerce software companies like Narvar and Shopify are helping them get on board.
When Facebook hired former PayPal boss David Marcus in 2014 to run its Messenger service, the common thinking was that the platform would transform into a commerce and payments engine. Retailers like Tommy Hilfiger and Burberry have experimented in this area, but commerce hasn’t yet taken off on the platform in a big way.
Update: The story has been updated.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
