Do you have a selling idea but don’t want to deal with renting physical space, electricity bills, maintenance, etc.?
Then sit closer as I will introduce you to “Facebook shops.” I call it a storefront beyond one street; why? At least because of the exposure and reach it gives you. Just think about it, Facebook has 2.7 billion monthly active users.
According to Facebook, 81% of consumers worldwide have changed their shopping habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we are increasingly leaning towards online shopping.
And it doesn’t stop here!
50% of online shoppers surveyed in the UK bought products only because they unexpectedly encountered those during browsing.
Taking these habits into account, an ever-changing Facebook launched “Facebook shops” in May 2020. Its purpose is to help small businesses during COVID-19 and beyond.
“Facebook shops” allows businesses to set up a single online store accessible on both Facebook and Instagram. They can complete all the processes of selling, including delivery to customers, without leaving the “Facebook Shops” platform.
Page visitors also get a hands-on introduction to the business, can see the seller’s story, products and checkout right from that page. This service is free to set up.
Setting your “Facebook shops” in minimum steps.
Don’t confuse Facebook page shop and “Facebook shops“. The latter is the newly introduced tool, and it allows you to synchronise throughout all the Facebook family platforms. By the way, in case you had a page shop, it will automatically update to “Facebook shops”.
Additionally, with the help of “Facebook shops”, you can:
- Use alluring design elements and customise collections to showcase your brand identity;
- Filter the audience you reach out via ad campaigns;
- Get insights on your sales and overall performance. Commerce Manager is the tool to aid you in this. More on it below;
- Get featured in Facebook and Instagram shop;
- Quickly reach out to and interact with customers.
It does not require much effort to create a “Facebook Shop” on Facebook. What you will need are Facebook Commerce Manager and a business page.
However, you can also use Shopify. Facebook and Shopify are in partnership since 2015, which allows easy synchronisation. If you are a Shopify merchant, “Facebook Shop” will open an additional sales channel for you.
Unfortunately, “Facebook Shops” has restricted availability. Before starting to invest in this feature, check your country’s eligibility from the list.
Stepping into setting the shop
Now, we will look into creating “Facebook Shops” straight from this social platform. There are several points to check before moving forward; we touched them above, remember?
- Check Shops’ availability in your country;
- Get Business Page on Facebook.
But wait, there is more.
You will also have to set up:
- Business Manager account
- Commerce Manager account
- And have a product catalogue.
And finally, to create a shop:
- Go to Commerce Manager ➝ Create Your Shop page and click on Next;
- Choose one of three checkout methods ➝ Next;
- On Facebook and Instagram
- On your website
- With messaging
- Choose your Business Page if you want to sell on it ➝ Next;
- Tick on your Business Manager account ➝ Next;
- Pick the catalogue you want to use in your shop ➝ Next;
- If you have not created a catalogue beforehand, it will be automatically created for you in Commerce Manager. As you finish creating the shop, you can add the items to it.
- Review your details again, agree to Sellers Agreement and Finish Setup.
Voila! You have created your shop!
Before publishing your shop, check the catalogue, create a collection, and customise your shop’s design.
Ecommerce Management of Facebook
Before we touched the Commerce manager feature on Facebook, now, let’s dive a little deeper into this topic!
Commerce Manager helps create and manage a catalogue with all the elements you want to promote on Facebook and Instagram.
Beware that you can select just one catalogue to link to your shop. You can edit it, but not switch!
Alongside setting up your shop, Commerce Manager can be used to get insights on customers and preferences, as well as customise your shop.
You get additional features of Commerce Manager if, while setting up your shop, you chose a checkout on Facebook option. Subsequently, you can use Manager to:
- Analyse deliveries and customer service;
- Reply to customer messages right from your Inbox;
- Suggest customers protect their purchases;
- Fulfil orders and process returns, manage the financial side of your shop and view payouts.
ProTip: Did you know that Facebook offers a free online course on Commerce Management? If you wish to nail the platform, learn how to successfully manage sales around Facebook Family, check out this 20 minutes course!
Standing out with your eCommerce shop in 2021
“Facebook Shops” offers an ultimate platform, thanks to which small and middle-size businesses get access to design features earlier used by big brands!
Now you can customise your shops colour, text, buttons, overall design style and others.
As you create your unique style, synchronise your shop across all the platforms, including Instagram and Whatsapp!
When you wish to upload images to your shop catalogue, bear the below points in mind:
- Images should be in JPEG or PNG format and no more than 8 MB;
- The image is displayed in square format;
- Minimum size for the images is 500 x 500 px and recommended is 1024 x 1024 px.
Oh, wait! I forgot to tell you about shoppable posts! And the critical element of those is tagging. Tagging is not bragging but a great tool to sell the product right through the organic post!
The steps are simple; tag the product when you upload photos. A consumer, mesmerised by what you offer, taps on the product and starts shopping right away!
We started our story on the “Facebook shops” by highlighting how Facebook adapted to the changing environment. Of course, this news shop feature is not ideal. It has some requirements, fees and drawbacks.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic goes on, and it is shifting people’s habits. Cell Phones and online tools to socialise not only entered our life, but it seems that they will be our guests forever!
Long story short, online selling platforms are our future, and it is better to join this eCommerce community as early as possible.
