Facebook Shops makes it easy for small businesses to sell on Facebook and Instagram

Facebook launched their Facebook Page Shops feature, where businesses can use this section to list products you’re selling and connect with more customers. Customers will be able to browse and buy products directly from a business’ Facebook Page or Instagram profile.

“While any business can have a shop, this feature best serves merchants, retail and e-commerce advertisers. We recommend it for businesses selling apparel, accessories (including bags and luggage), home furnishings and baby or kids’ products. But other types of businesses can still use a shop to reach more people on Facebook,” wrote Facebook.

Facebook has previously pushed e-commerce through their Marketplace feature, where even non-businesses can list items for sale like Carousell. For Instagram, they allow users to buy products featured in posts and ads.

However, since the pandemic has probably made people even more likely to look for local eateries and stores on Facebook and Instagram, it makes sense for visitors to be able to make purchases without having to leave the platforms.

How Shops work

While the feature doesn’t look like it’s been seen yet in Malaysia, you can start setting up shop after you’ve received an email or notification that you can use Facebook Shops. Businesses with a linked Facebook Page Shop and Instagram profile may be eligible to have a shared storefront across both Instagram and Facebook.

You can create collections to customise your Shop and attract customers. Each collection will have a name, description, cover media and have between 6-30 products that you choose and you can organise products into collections with different themes.

After publishing your shop, customers will be able to find it through both the Facebook or Instagram app. For example, if you have a shop that is accessible from both your Instagram Profile and your Facebook Page, then your collections may be visible on both social media platforms. While the Facebook Shop listing can be created for free, Facebook will charge a small fee on each purchase.

Facebook also plans to launch ‘Instagram Shop’ this Summer,  allowing users to browse products directly from Instagram Explore. There will also be a way for merchants to feature and link to products in their live videos, and for consumers to connect loyalty programs to their own Facebook accounts.

Shops is available on Facebook in the United States, but we’ll keep you updated once it’s available here in Malaysia.

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