How to set up Instagram Shopping for your business
Instagram knows how useful it is in connecting businesses with potential customers and increasing sales.
That’s why Instagram keeps adding features that help businesses find and target potential customers better.
One of those features is Instagram Shop. Instagram enables customers to access a business’ shop directly from their profile, posts, reels or stories.
This makes the entire process of shopping through Instagram much easier since as a customer, you don’t have to open a webpage or find the product page to place an order.
Businesses in the US can even set up Instagram Checkout, so people can directly make purchases through Instagram.
Before we begin setting up our Instagram shop, we need to check eligibility.
How many followers do you need for an Instagram Shop?
Thankfully, there are no minimum follower requirements to set up an Instagram Shop.
You can start adding products even if you have 0 followers.
Even though there is no minimum follower requirement to set up Instagram shop, having a good number of followers is better because it displays trustworthiness and also helps your Instagram Shop get approved faster.
Buy genuine Instagram followers now and skip the wait!
How do you get approved for Instagram Shop?
Since you can start adding products even if you have 0 followers, you can start setting up an Instagram Shop right away.
At the end of the set-up process, however, Instagram reviews your account to check if your account meets the eligibility criteria before Instagram shop goes live.
Minimum Requirements/Eligibility Criteria for Instagram Shopping
To set up an Instagram Shop, your account needs to meet these specific requirements:
- Your business is located in a supported market.
- Your Instagram account complies with Instagram and Facebook’s Community Guidelines and policies.
- Your business owns a website domain, and your account should only contain product listings that are available for direct purchase from your website.
- Your business information such as emails, phone numbers and address is correct.
If your website and Instagram page meets all the above mentioned requirements, you’re good to go! Let’s start setting your Instagram Shop.
Setting up an Instagram Shop
Step 1: Switch to a Business Account
Since you cannot set up an Instagram Shop on a personal account, switch to a professional account by:
- Go to your profile.
- Click Edit Profile
- Select Switch to Professional Account
- Select your business type and after entering all the required information, you should be on a Business Account
Step 2: Connect to a Facebook Page
You can’t have an Instagram Shop without a Facebook page. Follow these steps to link a Facebook page to your account.
- Go to your profile
- Click Edit Profile
- Under Public Business Information, select Page
- Choose a Facebook Page to connect, or create one if you don’t already have one.
Step 3: Upload your Products
Now you can start adding your product catalog to Instagram. There are 2 ways to do this.
You can upload your products to Instagram by either using Facebook Business Catalog Manager or if your website is on a shopping platform like Shopify, BigCommerce, CommerceHub, ChannelAdvisor, Quipt or Zentail, you can upload your product catalog directly through your partner platform.
Using Facebook Business Manager
Log into your Facebook business account and go to Commerce Manager.
- Select Get Started and then click on Create a Catalog.
- Select “Ecommerce (products)” and click next.
- Select Upload Product Info.
- Assign the catalog to your business manager account.
- Enter a name for your catalog and click Create.
- Go back to Commerce Manager and select the catalog you just created.
- Open up the Catalog tab and select Items.
- Select Add Items > Add Manually > Next.
- Upload an Image and enter the name, description and other details of your product.
- Select your product category and click finish when you’re done.
- To add more items, repeat step 9-11.
Using Partner Platform
- Log into your Facebook business account and go to Commerce Manager.
- Select Get Started and then click on Create a Catalog.
- Select “Ecommerce (products)” and click next.
- Select Connect Ecommerce Platform.
- Select the ecommerce platform of your choice.
- Follow the link to the partner platform website and follow the steps there to connect your Instagram account to the platform.
Step 4: Submit your account for review
- Once you’re done creating your product catalog, it’s time to get your account approved before your Instagram Shop can go live. To do so,
- Go to your Instagram profile settings
- Click on “Sign up for Instagram Shopping”
- Follow the steps to submit your account for review.
- You can check the status of your application any time by going to settings and selecting “Shopping”.
Step 5: Launching your Instagram Shop
- Once your Instagram account is reviewed and approved for Instagram Shop,
- Go to your Instagram profile settings.
- Select Business and then select Shopping.
- Select the product catalog.
- Click on Done.
And here you go, your Instagram Shop is now set up, ready to receive orders.
Why is my Instagram not eligible for shopping?
There can be multiple reasons as to why your Instagram is not eligible for shopping.
One of the most common reasons is that you’re simply in a country where Instagram Shop feature has not rolled out yet.
If you are in a country that has the Instagram Shopping feature, then make sure your account meets the minimum requirements for setting up an Instagram Shop. If not, make the required changes and try again.
If it still doesn’t work, then delete your old account and start with a fresh, new account.
That’s all for today, Stay tuned for more power packed content!
