Instagram Shopping: What It Is and How It Works
Instagram Shopping has become a valuable tool for e-commerce of different sizes that want to facilitate the buying process for their clients. They use their Instagram account to promote products, and customers can click on a link to be redirected to the brand's online store.
It diminishes the steps between driving the customer's interest in a product and purchasing it. Besides, it reduces distraction and enhances user experience. Check out the article to learn more about how you can enjoy Instagram Shopping for your business.
What is Instagram Shopping?
Instagram Shopping is described by Meta as a set of features that enable people to buy your products when clicking on the videos and photos you publish on your Instagram account. You can create your shop on Instagram where people can visualize your catalog, click on each item, and buy. It's also possible to insert a shop button in your brand profile to redirect customers to your store on Instagram.
Source: Coach Instagram
Then, they can browse through the products available, and check the prices, and details without leaving the social media network.
Source: Coach Instagram
Source: Coach Instagram
Source: Coach Instagram
It's possible to divide your Instagram store into categories as well.
Source: Coach Instagram
How does Instagram Shopping work?
When you add Instagram Shopping to your business, the experience of scrolling through the social network’s feed won’t change. However, every time you publish photos and videos of your products, you can include links to buy them.
In reels and feed images, the link will appear as a small banner at the bottom of the post saying "View Shop". When the user clicks on the image, they will be able to see the products tagged in the content and visit their pages to access more information.
Source: Jo Malone London Instagram
This means, they don't have to go to the shop section in your Instagram profile to access the product pages, as they can be linked to the content you post. Then you can decide if you want to redirect the customer to your website to finalize the purchase there or enable them to complete the whole process on Instagram.
How to Set Up Instagram Shopping
The first step to add Instagram Shopping to your brand profile is evaluating if your business complies with Instagram Commerce Elegibility Requirements, which includes:
- Having your own website domain
- Being located in one of the supported countries to use Facebook and Instagram commerce surfaces, such as the United States of America, Brazil, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
- Having a Business Manager Account
If you meet all the criterias, then you can start setting up your shop section using Instagram app or import and manage your catalog from a partner platform, like Ecwid, and BigCommerce.
After that, you have to define how the shopping process will happen using the Commerce manager:
- Select the check out method, if you want customers to complete the purchases on Instagram or on your website;
- Choose to add a shop section only on Instagram, Facebook, or in both.
- Create the product catalog or import from an existing one.
- Review the details and submit it.
Instagram will analyze your request, and if everything is ok, you will be ready to sell using the social media platform.
Enjoy Instagram Shopping
After enabling Instagram Shopping to your business profile, and setting up all the details, it's essential to create a marketing plan to promote your products inside the platform. Analyze your audience, try to understand their demands and how to attract their attention, so you can create content that is appealing to them and will convince them to take the next step, and buy from your brand.
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