A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook and Instagram Shops

The golden rule of retail is to meet your customers where they are. Facebook Shops gives businesses the ability to meet their customers on social with a seamless check out process. In May, Facebook began to roll out Shops for Facebook and Instagram , giving small businesses the ability to sell directly from their social media accounts. Facebook shops are a simplified, customizable shopping option that maximizes your products’ presentation and performance. Shops are free, easy to create, fast, and, most importantly, integrated across Facebook’s many apps. Meaning, once you set up your shop, it will be available on your Facebook Page, Instagram Profile, Stories, and Ads. 

Just in time for the holiday season! 1 in 5 consumers starts their holiday shopping as early as October. COVID-19 has left most shoppers feeling leary about visiting brick and mortar stores, which means this year’s holiday shopping will most likely be done all online. Include creating a Facebook Shop in your holiday retail marketing strategy! BriteIdea is here to help walk you through setting up your very own Facebook and Instagram Shop .

Your first step is to add your inventory via Commerce Manager . 

To qualify for  Commerce Manager , businesses need to provide Facebook with: 

Once you’ve provided the above information, you’ll need to upload your inventory list and go through the set-up process.  Commerce Manager is your hub for managing your sales process, so it is a crucial step in building your Facebook Shop. Facebook is partnering with Shopify, BigCommerce, Woo, Channel Advisor, CedCommerce, Cafe24, Tienda Nube, and Feedonomics to help brands bring their products into Facebook Shops.

Then click on the “Customize Your Shop” button to move forward to the Facebook Shop Builder dashboard.  

Facebook shops are highly customizable. The new Shop Builder provides you with a range of visual options, allows you to create Collections of products, update the style and layout of your displays, add a cover image and accent colors that showcase their brand and be able to preview how your listings will be displayed on Facebook and Instagram. Pages have been able to sell products on Facebook and Instagram for some time now, but with Shops, retailers can better manage how their products are displayed to visitors. For example, if you are a clothing store that makes men and women’s clothing, you’ll be able to customize your storefront to show products that are most relevant to visitors, like men’s jeans or women’s coats. 

Shops are bringing the feel of shopping at a store to social media. Just as a consumer might need to ask a sales representative for help, in Facebook shops, consumers can message the business through WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, track deliveries, and more.

Shops will soon have a Live feature to help further consumers find your products. Soon you will be able to tag a product from your Facebook shop before going Live. During your Live, the product will be pinned to the bottom of the video so that consumers can tap to learn more and purchase. 

Facebook Shops is also testing a way to integrate your rewards and loyalty program for higher customer retention. Your customers will be able to easily see and keep track of their points and rewards via social media. 

In the past, retailers relied heavily on physical storefronts and their foot traffic. With the power of Shops, you’ll be able to create a digital storefront and tailor your business to meet the needs of the shopper in a way that feels native and resonates with members of that community.  The shopping experience is fast and seamless, so customers can quickly discover products on your Facebook Shop and complete checkout without ever leaving the app. Q4 is right around the corner. Now is the time to set-up your Facebook shop as part of your holiday social media strategy. Let us help you prepare and strategize for the upcoming season to ensure your business gets a slice of the increased web traffic. Exceed your holiday marketing goals and contact us to schedule your complimentary consultation!