How to use Facebook and Instagram for e-commerce

Set up a Facebook and Instagram shop in six steps

 

If your charity does not have the Facebook and Instagram shops feature here’s how to set it up:

 

 

Head to Commerce Manager

 

You’ll find this option within Facebook Business Manager. Simply click ‘get started’, choose ‘create a shop’, and move onto the next step.

 

 

Choose the best option

 

Choose whether you want to set up a product catalogue manually within Facebook or integrate a catalogue from your web shop using one of Facebook’s e-commerce partners: Shopify, BigCommerce, ChannelAdvisor, Tienda Nube and Feedonomics, etc.

 

Connect to a catalogue held in an e-commerce service via the link that says ‘sync a partner platform’ or click ‘next’ to create a catalogue manually.

 

 

Choose your checkout method

 

At the time of writing, checkout within Facebook or Instagram is only available for US-based organisations with US bank accounts, so UK charities will need to choose ‘another website’. Checkout is expected to be rolled out in the UK soon, so keep an eye out for that!

 

 

Choose your sales channels

 

You can select any Facebook or Instagram accounts connected to the organisation’s business manager, which means you can integrate one shop across your national and local Facebook-owned channels. You will need to add a business email address before continuing to the next stage.

 

 

Add products

 

If you haven’t added products to Commerce Manager via a commerce partner, this is the place to add them manually. Think carefully about the categories you choose and about curating collections as this may help the performance of your products in search.

 

 

Submit for approval

 

Once you submit your shop for approval, you will hear back from Facebook to let you know whether it has been approved or not. If it has not been approved, you may have the option to ask for a second review. If it isn’t clear why your shop wasn’t approved, get in touch with Facebook support before requesting a second review.

 

 

The future is digital

 

Charity shops on the high street have re-opened their doors, but with social distancing and COVID product restrictions, the experience is hardly ‘back to normal’ for charity retailers.

 

Charities are already successfully raising funds from e-bay, Amazon and dedicated e-commerce platforms, but often e-commerce is a small proportion of overall retail income. When Facebook and Instagram shops are fully optimised for e-commerce and better integrated with the powerful Facebook Ads Manager, they could become a significant source of retail income for the charity sector.