Instagram is a great place to share your creativity through posts and videos with your followers, see what your friends are up to and discover new content. But since last year, Instagram has also become a place to buy some cool stuff. In 2020, Instagram announced Instagram Shops - a new shopping experience for small businesses to help them deal with online challenges during the COVID-19 crisis.
Instagram Shop is a great way for brands to promote their products to people directly in the Instagram App. If you have a small business, Instead of directing people to your website, they can browse and buy directly in their favorite feed.
If you have a small business selling handmade products or you have a bigger e-commerce website, you should definitely open your own Instagram Shop. More than 130 million users tap on an Instagram Shopping post each month. Also, more than 500 million Instagram users use the platform daily and 50% of them follow at least one business.
With these stats, it’s clear that Instagram is moving more towards e-commerce and setting up your Instagram Shop is a must if you are a small business owner or creator that sells your own products.
So if you’d like to know more about how to set up your Instagram Shop, continue reading. In this guide, we’ll explain what exactly Instagram Shops are, how you can use Instagram Shopping to sell your products and how to set up your own Instagram Shop.
Bonus: Did you know that you can also find Guides in the Instagram Shop tab? Check out where else to find and how to create Instagram Guides.
The best thing about Instagram Shopping is that it allows brands to create digital and shareable catalogs of products directly on Instagram. Users can see and buy products in the app, or they can choose to go to the brand’s site to make the purchase.
However, promoting products is nothing new on Instagram. 87% of users say influencers have inspired them to make a purchase, and 70% of shoppers go to Instagram to discover new products, reports the social media giant. Nevertheless, before Instagram Shopping, brands had to share a link to their online shop in the Instagram bio to make a sale, or use clickable Instagram Stories.
With Instagram Shop, the whole shopping process is done in a few clicks, in a customizable digital storefront, right on your Instagram profile.
Before you set up your own Instagram Shop, there are several eligibility requirements your business needs to check before you can set up Instagram Shopping.
If you already have a business profile, but wish to switch it back to a personal account, learn how to do it in a few easy steps.
Step 1: Convert your Instagram account into a Business or Creator Account
Besides allowing you to set up and use Instagram Shopping, having a Business account also gives you access to business analytics and tools such as Action Buttons, Instagram Insights, and Instagram ads.
Step 2: Connect your Instagram business profile to a Facebook Page
Tip 1: You don’t need to have a Facebook Shop page, only a Facebook page.
Step 3: Upload your product catalog
To sell with Instagram Shop, you need to have a product catalog, which is a list of all your products, inventory, and descriptions.
You can upload your product catalog in two ways:
Step 4: Submit your account for review
Once you’ve uploaded a product catalog to your Instagram account, next you will need to submit your account for review.
Tip 2: Account reviews may take a few days or longer.
Tip 3: Some businesses may be notified to submit additional information to prove ownership of their website domain. If you receive this notification, follow these steps to complete a domain verification process to submit your account for review.
Step 5: Turn on Instagram Shopping
When your account has passed the review process, it’s time for the last step to connect your product catalog with your Instagram Shop.
The process for setting up your Instagram Shop may be a bit longer, but it’s nothing compared to the benefit you will get from presenting your products to your followers directly from your Instagram business profile.
Additionally, if you have a Business or Creator account and you live in the U.S., you may be eligible for Instagram Checkout, which allows users to complete their purchases directly through Instagram.
Instagram Shopping is just starting out and it’s just a matter of time it becomes global. Now is the perfect time to include Instagram Shop as part of your overall social media strategy.