A Guide to Instagram Shopping - How to Get Started

authorShannon Correia dateJuly 20, 2020

Instagram shopping has just been launched.  The social networking platform will now be home to digital storefronts with easy to shop products. Here’s all you need to know about the development and how your business can benefit from it.

This follows on the announcement made earlier this year introducing Facebook Shop, a direct way to manage sales through the platform. When social shopping via Instagram, customers will be presented with products by several merchants which will increase the exposure of businesses. Shopping will become a key feature, with a dedicated navigational tab to be introduced in future.

Instagram has more than 500 million Instagram users, half of which follow at least one business. With social shopping, the experience and ease of making a purchase will be that much easier for the user. Your account will no longer solely be a display for your business, but an avenue for added sales.

instagram shop

Instagram Shopping will feature products available for purchase through your posts and Stories, as well as discoveries made in the Search and Explore functions of the app. You will be able to tag your products that once tapped by the viewer, will lead them to a product page. Here, they’ll have access to image(s), details and price.

In addition to this, there will be a link that takes them to your website to complete the purchase. Products can also be made available for direct purchase and will be marked as such, allowing shoppers to enjoy the full shopping experience from within the app. This will be linked to your Facebook Shop, so you can either handle your inventory directly, or link up with one of Facebook’s e-commerce partners like Shopify.

Instagram Shopping eligibility - what you need to get started:

  • Your business needs to have an Instagram business account
  • Your account needs to be connected to Facebook
  • You need to have a Facebook Shop set up
  • Your business must be part of a supported market
  • Your business must sell physical goods
  • Sellers need to comply with Instagram’s commerce policies

To activate the shopping tab on your profile, you will need to create at least one Instagram Shop post. This function will also be made available for charitable donations. Following the associations of privacy issues with parent company Facebook, there will be extra security measures in place. This will ensure that the risk of fraud is monitored and that users have data protection and purchase protection.

How to create an Instagram Shop

  • Connect your Instagram with your Facebook catalogue.
  • Sign up for Shopping via the app (In your settings, select Business, then Instagram Shopping. You’ll be required to submit information).
  • Your account will be reviewed. You can check review status in your Settings, though you will be notified. This process can take a few days.
  • You will be prompted to complete the setup.
  • You can begin tagging products in your Stories and posts.

When positing, you will now have the added feature of Product Tagging, which will prompt you to make a selection from your catalogue. It is also possible to go back through your feed to older posts and add in tags. The parameters are as follows:

  • Stories may only feature 1 product per story post. The product tag is customisable by colour and text.
  • A maximum of 5 products can be tagged per image or video post.
  • Up to 20 tags for multimedia posts.
    instagram shop example

You can then visit the Insights section on your profile to view the stats relating to your stoppable posts.

Users will be able to save products to view later. Your business’s audience will grow as you gain more exposure, with products being recommended to people with similar interests. The process of shopping is also being made easier by having integrated links on your posts, so you will not need to tell viewers to ‘view the link in bio’ as you needed to previously. Once they make a purchase, their information is saved in a database by Facebook, so you’ll be able to send them notifications regarding their order and the delivery.

To promote your Instagram Shop, include hashtags so that your products are found by users. Users can follow hashtags just like they follow accounts, so building followers in that regard will help boost your visibility. Instagram will also have Shopping Ads, allowing you to turn your posts into ads. The posts will have the tags which then lead them to your product page, priming them for a purchase.

If Instagram shopping is not yet available in your region, you can expect it to be introduced in the coming months as it is a developing feature being rolled out around the world in phases. 

With all of these changes being introduced to Instagram, you’ll want to make sure that your account and the posts you publish are primed and polished in accordance with your brand. Gearing up your profiles and getting ready to introduce the Instagram Shopping feature will set you in good stead as the update becomes available.

Need help getting your Instagram Shop launched?

Nexa is here to help.

 

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