The Essential Guide to Instagram Shopping For Retailers

It all begins with your Instagram storefront.   Instagram Shopping is a set of tools that allow users to browse and purchase your products via images and videos throughout the Instagram platform.   100+ million individuals tap on an Instagram shopping post each month, demonstrating how popular social buying is.   Instagram shopping posts are a fantastic way for businesses to promote their catalog and increase sales.    

What is Instagram Shopping?

  Instagram Shopping is an Instagram tool that enables companies to publish a digital catalog of their products on the social media platform.   Every shop must understand the following terminology to market on Instagram:   Customers can shop directly from your Instagram profile via Instagram Shop, a brand's fully customizable digital storefront. It is a landing page where visitors browse your products.   Pictures, descriptions, pricing, and other details are all displayed on the Product Detail Pages. Any Instagram photos with the keyword "product" are available on the product detail page.   For your audience to be able to click through to learn more or make a purchase, use a Shopping Tag to tag items from your catalog in your Stories, Reels, or Instagram posts. Products can also be tagged in post captions and bios using Instagram's limited Checkout feature.   Customers can also buy a product they like inside Instagram with Checkout. Customers will be sent to a checkout page on the brand's eCommerce site for brands lacking Checkout capabilities.    

Setting Up Instagram Shopping For Your Account

    Once Instagram Shopping is enabled, you can tag products in feed posts, stories, IGTV videos, Reels, and Live broadcasts.   Additionally, customers can purchase your goods directly from the app if they have access to Instagram Checkout.   Here's how to configure Instagram for shopping:  

1. Make sure you're eligible

  For Instagram's buying features to work, there are certain prerequisites.   This ensures that the app can only be used by legitimate shops and eCommerce companies.   The following are some of the requirements:  

• Your company must be located in a permitted market.
• Your company must adhere to Instagram's commerce guidelines and sell primarily physical things.
• You must have a business account on Instagram.

 

2. Change your account to one for a business (or a creator)

  You must convert to a Business account to create an Instagram Shop.   Once you have a Business account, you can enter crucial details like your business's opening hours, address, phone number, and website link.  

3. Connect to a Facebook page

  Then, adhere to these instructions to connect your Instagram business account to a Facebook page:  

• Visit the Instagram account for your company.
• "Edit profile" should be chosen
• Choose "Page" from the list of options under the "Public business information" section.
• Select The Page you want to connect.
• Select "Create a new Facebook Page" or select your page.

 

4. Take your product catalog online

  To use Instagram Shop, you must have a product catalog, which compiles all your products, inventory, and descriptions.   A product catalog can be linked to your Instagram business account in one of two ways:  

• Using Facebook Business Manager's "do it yourself" option.
• Partner E-commerce Platform (Shopify, BigCommerce)

 

5. Account Submission for Review

  After linking a product catalog to your Instagram account, you must submit it for evaluation by doing the following:  

• Visit the Instagram profile for your company and select the menu option.
• Choose "Settings."
• Sign up for the store
• To submit your account for review, follow the instructions.

 

6. Turn On Shopping

  You can enable shopping options as soon as your account has been approved.  

• Go to the Instagram profile and on the menu.
• Choose "Settings."
• After selecting "Business," select "Shopping."
• Pick the "product catalog" you want to link to your account from the list.
• Choose "Done."

 

Tips For Selling More With Instagram Shopping

    Okay, so it's even more crucial to produce content that will convert now that you are aware of how to make your Instagram posts shoppable.   You want to publish content that connects with your audience, showcases your items, and encourages people to make purchases.   Here are some pointers for writing Instagram shopping posts that will get clicks:  

1. Make a Powerful Call to Action

  Increase engagement on your Instagram posts by including a call-to-action (CTA) in the captions and motivate followers to do the desired action.   A powerful CTA can go a long way, whether it's asking people to subscribe to a newsletter, or leaving a remark to enter a contest.  

2. Images with Spacing-Out Tags

  If you're tagging numerous products in a single post or carousel, ensure they are well-spaced out because the area on a mobile device is small.   They won't overlap and obscure the information on the tag if they do it this way. You want to make it as simple as possible for your customers to shop.  

3. Include Useful Hashtags

  Your Instagram shopping posts are taken into account by the Instagram algorithm, therefore you should optimize them.   One technique to improve your postings and make them "searchable" is to include descriptive hashtags.   Additionally, since users may follow hashtags, your postings will also be easier to find.  

4. Bring Your Products to Life with Videos

  Instagram Stories videos are a terrific way to incorporate shoppable stickers into your posts and showcase how your products work or appear.   It's a fun and simple way to capture your goods from different angles and give fans a glimpse of what to expect when they purchase. This method is especially helpful for clothes, beauty, and jewelry (or anything that can be personally styled).  

Conclusion

  Instagram shopping will continue to gain popularity, and it won't be long before functions like Instagram Checkout are available everywhere. Therefore, as part of your overall social media plan, there is no better time to get started than right now!    Utilize Social Media Integrations to manage your Instagram account more quickly. You can connect your social channels with your Online eCommerce Store from a single dashboard, add items to any social media post, and reply to comments with product recommendations.   Author Bio: Anup Mehrotra is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Partnerships for Envision eCommerce and Netsmartz. Envision eCommerce is a renowned eCommerce development company and Adobe Commerce Cloud Silver Solutions Partner. Anup's expertise in building strategic partnerships, software marketing, and lead generation is focused on helping budding entrepreneurs build quality products fast. In his leisure time, he likes to read and write about software development and eCommerce marketing.