Over the years online shopping has become increasingly popular. So much so, many businesses and fashion retailers are 100% online.
With the number of online shoppers rapidly growing, shopping on instagram was created – all whilst in the app. You will find a separate tab for shopping on instagram; it looks similar to the icon below. However, you can still shop from the main feed, the majority of images will have products tagged. The best part is that it is free!
What do you need to before starting an Instagram shop?
- Your business must have its own website domain.
- You must be able to directly link from your website to a specific item.
- Have a business or creator instagram account.
- Check if you are in a Supported Market.
- Lastly, set up a Business Manager account – via settings in instagram.
How to start a Instagram shop for your business:
Once you have completed the previous steps, get started in commerce manager or on a supported platform. Alternatively, you can start via the Instagram app directly.
After doing this, select how you would like customers to pay for your product. As Instagram and Facebook are run along the same platform you can choose if you would like to sell on Facebook as well. Begin to add products – put your shop for review, then all that’s left to do is wait!
If you want to see another explanation of how to set up an Instagram shop, along with other information directly from the instagram website, please read this.
Adding products to your Instagram shop:
There are two ways to add products, Catalogue Manager or an E-Commerce Platform Partner.
- Catalogue Manager – this can be found within Facebook Business Manager and is the “do it yourself” method. You can follow this link to be taken to the Facebook Business Centre. After reading this information, go to the Commerce Manager page. Then you can begin to add products into an inventory.
- E-Commerce Platform Partner – use one of one of the instagram certified e-commerce platform partners such as Shopify. The full list of certified platforms and further information can be found here. Follow the steps on your selected partner website to connect your account with Facebook. Once it as become synced, products should begin to show.
What are the benefits of an Instagram shop?
Instagram as is a very large platform – with roughly one billion monthly users. By creating an Instagram shop expect further engagements in order to expand your demographic – even countries!
There is a separate section on the new Instagram update – on the left of your profile. It is simple to use; you are able to shop by image. After this, press on the image, then you will be given a link to view that product on their website.
This is what we can see on our shop page – we loved to see so many local business on there already!
The next steps…
Post your products on Instagram Stories as they often gain a lot of interaction. This is because you can mention your business on an instagram story and link to posts and products. If you want to make the most out of instagram stories, and are not sure how, read our blog – Instagram Stories for Business.
Don’t forget to tag your products in your pictures – this way it is so simple to find a product.