Moving businesses online can be a daunting task if you don't know where to start. Here is a complete guide along with a step-by-step breakdown for setting up Facebook & Instagram Shops, and creative best practices.
Facebook and Instagram have long been platforms where brands and products are discovered, now you can take it a step further by creating a shop, increasing chances of conversion, and sales. We'll go through all aspects of Facebook & Instagram Shops, how to set it up, the eligibility of a brand, maintaining the aesthetics and a visual appeal, and more.
Introduction To Shops
Facebook & Instagram Shops can avail an online store with one single experience on both platforms and showcase curated collections and new releases, for free and without a budget, excluding advertising.
Shops are customizable and designed to mirror the experience of an actual store on the virtual platform, so businesses can curate products, use a color palette to add visuals such as a cover image according to their core colors.
Functionalities remain similar to the generic e-commerce platforms, users can browse and search for products, read their descriptions, make a wishlist, and additionally also communicate with the sellers, and ask for specifications about a product or their delivery.
Shops outside of the US currently do not have the checkout feature, and therefore, users can presently only discover the products on Facebook and Instagram but not purchase them. Users can click on the 'View On Website' button to be redirected to the seller's website and complete the transaction.
Eligibility for Shops
Shops must be available in the seller's region
Shops are only available to sell physical goods
Any user with access to Commerce Manager can create Shops. The platform will also be used to manage inventory and sales on Facebook and Instagram
'Manage Page' permissions are required for the Page and catalogue to be used for the shop. A Facebook Business Page or catalogue can also be created while setting up the shop
Sellers managing their Page and catalogue in a Business Manager account will need to be an admin on the account
An active Instagram business account is required to make Shops visible on Instagram. Business Manager must own the Instagram business account and the Page that it's connected to
Creation Of Shops
The creation of Shops requires two main steps - setting up the shop and curating a catalogue. Brands and businesses can also further customize the shop through various colors, fonts, and layouts, and curate collections.
Choose one of the three checkout methods, and click Next (If checkout is available in the region)
Select the Facebook business Page that you want to sell from, or create a new Page if you don't have one. (If a brand also wants to sell on Instagram, select the Instagram business account) Click Next
Select the Business Manager account or create a new one. Click Next
Select the catalogue that you want to use for your shop and click Next. You can't switch this catalogue later. (If a catalogue has not been created, one will be automatically created in Commerce Manager called "Items for (name and ID of the Page)"
Add items later when finished setting up your shop
Check shop details, review the Seller Agreement before agreeing
Click Finish setup
How to Curate a Catalogue
Catalogues contain all the information about the products to be sold and advertised, such as titles, images, descriptions, prices, variants, and more. Catalogues can be created for different types of inventories such as e-commerce products, hotels, vehicles, and more.
Once a catalogue has been created, sellers can add and manage information and description about the items, products in the catalogue can be advertised through different formats such as dynamic, carousel, and more, and country and language information can be uploaded.
Click Get Started. Select Create a catalogue and then click Get Started
Select + Add Catalogue to create a new one
Select the type of inventory you advertise or sell, then click Next
E-commerce (products) only: Choose how you want to add items to your catalogue:
Select Upload product info if the seller wants to add the items themselves in Commerce Manager
Select Connect a partner platform if items are hosted on a different platform that has an integration with Facebook. Select a platform and follow the link to its website to complete setup and import items to Facebook
Select the Business Manager account that the catalogue belongs to. This unlocks more ways to use your catalogue than selecting a personal account and enables assigning other people permission to work on the catalogue. To select a Business Manager account, the seller must be a business admin.
Enter a name for the catalogue
Click Create
How To Create Collections
Collections are a group of two or more products that can categorize products by releases, seasons, or any other way the seller wants to. Brands can add a title, description, and cover media to each collection.
Give the collection a name and select the products to include. Click to select a variant, such as a specific color or size. Click Confirm
In the Featured collection section, add these details:
The featured section is displayed as a cover media, at least one product from the collection can be included at a 4:3 ratio with a minimum pixel size of 800 x 600, in a variety of image formats. Collection name (title) can contain up to 30 characters, including emojis. Add title and subtitle (optional). Click Publish.
Setting up the shop is only the foundational stage of selling online on Facebook & Instagram, driving discovery of your shop is one of the most integral steps.
In-Feed Placements
Posts with shoppable tags, Stories with a 'View The Collection' button, and organic Facebook and Instagram posts are an essential way of making the products and the shop discoverable.
Shoppable elements should also be incorporated into Live videos that talk discuss a product or show tutorials based around them. Facebook & Instagram both have enabled adding shoppable tags to Live videos.
Collections
Adding distinct collections is another way of driving discovery. Seasonal releases, new launches, recurring or exclusive lines of products, trend-specific products, and more of such categorization should be highlighted through various collections that highlight the diversity of the offerings.
Data & Insights
Keeping a track of the progress and engagement is also significant to constantly evolve the selling strategy. Insights from the shop within Commerce Manager can help with the data, statistics, and information required.
Visual Appeal
Visual elements play the biggest role in online shopping. E-commerce design trends also need to be tapped to curate an efficient & aesthetic social media shop. The visual appeal continues to be a concerning and significant element of selling online.
The design templates showcasing the products are the most significant aspect of the online presence, and this factor can make or break the business, brands need to stay updated with the latest formats that consumers engage with.
Aesthetic feeds and artistic color palettes continue to lure the online shopper, and if a brand is not in line with the current trends and interests, they may lose a potential consumer.
There is no way a consumer can check the quality of your product online, so the visuals have to speak for themselves. Even if the quality of your product is worthy, but the visuals do not signify it, the consumer would think the product is not worth it.
Design Tips & Templates
Modern Still Life
Photograph a combination of natural and man-made elements, primarily the products, and create a visual of the product being used in daily life, with lifestyle-driven picturization.
Online shoppers are most concerned about the colors being different from what they see online. Using natural lighting and no filters, with the subject (product) and objects either complementing their colors or reflecting them, can be reassuring for the buyer. For instance, photograph the products in an outdoor setting, or place a bright red tomato beside a bright red handbag.
Maintain a uniform color palette for the whole shop that consists of core or primary colors according to the brand's tonality. Curate a color palette for each collection that signifies its product line and the season it launched in.
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