In a notice on its Web site, Payvment says its platform will shut down at the end of February and that its team is "joining a new [unnamed] company", believed to be Intuit. Companion site Lish.com is also being closed.

Intuit is also understood to have taken control of Payvment's technology and patents, while the now defunct company is telling its users to transfer their Facebook stores to Russia-based Ecwid's platform so that they can continue selling on the social network.

Ecwid - which already serves more than 250,000 merchants - says that its Facebook app enables merchants to add a full-featured store to any page so customers can discover and buy products without ever leaving the site.

Jim Stoneham, CEO, Payvment, has not explained the move but says: "Ecwid's e-commerce technology will not only enable our merchants to keep selling on Facebook, but also allow them the opportunity open up new channels by placing a store anywhere their customers shop online."