Social commerce—which combines social media with ecommercefeatures—reaches potential customers where they’re most active. If your products are available only on your own site, you may be missing out.
Here’s how to start selling on Facebook Shops.
What is Facebook Shops?
Facebook Shops is an online marketplace available through social media platform Facebook. It allows you to set up an online store on your Facebook page or Instagram profile. Think of Facebook Shops as both a sales channel and a social platform.
With Facebook Shops, users can find and buy your products from the Facebook app, where they see a personalized feed of brands and items they’re likely interested in. If you run an online store, opening a shop on Facebook can help your business reach more customers by placing your products in front of both your followers, and a broader audience.
What are the requirements for opening a shop on Facebook?
To be eligible to have your products featured on Facebook Shops, your shop must sell physical items and meet Meta’s commerce eligibility requirements. This means you must do the following:
- Have an established online presence. You may have to verify your identity or business information.
- Comply with Meta’s and Facebook’s policies.
- Verify your domain if you have your own site that you direct Facebook shoppers to.
- Meet location requirements. Your shop needs to be located in the region where you would like to sell, and only certain locations are supported by Facebook Shops.
- Provide clear, accurate information regarding availability, pricing, returns, and refunds.
How to create a Facebook shop
- Ensure you have proper access to your Facebook page
- Create your shop
- Set up Checkout with Facebook
- Connect your Facebook page
- Select your catalog
- Finish setup
Here’s how to create a Facebook shop using the Facebook Commerce Manager, which allows you to manage and track your sales across Facebook and Instagram, including setting up online stores, managing inventory, and analyzing sales data.
(If you use an ecommerce platform like Shopify, skip to the next section to learn how to set up automatic syncing between your Shopify store and Facebook shop.)
1. Ensure you have proper access to your Facebook page
If your business already has a Facebook page and online product catalog, ensure you have enabled “managepage” and “manage catalog” permissions for your business account. If your business does not have a Facebook page or catalog, you can set them up when you create your shop.
2. Create your shop
Go to the “Create your shop” page. You’ll need to log in with a Facebook account to access this page. If you use Shopify or another ecommerce platform that supports Facebook Shops, select “Sync a partner platform” to finish setup on the partner platform. If not, follow Facebook’s prompts to create your shop.
3. Set up Checkout with Facebook
As of June 5, 2023, all new Facebook shops in the United States must use Checkout with Facebook, which allows customers to pay for purchases without leaving Facebook. (Existing US-based shops have until April 24, 2024, to enable Checkout with Facebook if they haven't already.)
To set up Checkout with Facebook, you need a US bank account, a US business address, a federal tax identification number, and individual identity information (such as a driver’s license or passport) to verify your business.
4. Connect your Facebook page
At this point, you can connect an existing Facebook page and business account to your Facebook shop, or create new ones.
5. Select your catalog
Your catalog is essentially the container for information about products you advertise or sell. If you already have a product catalog on Facebook for advertising products, you can use it for your Facebook shop. If you don’t have a catalog, Facebook will automatically create an empty folder that you can add items to later.
6. Finish setup
Review your shop details, confirm everything is correct, and agree to Facebook’s seller agreement. You now have a Facebook shop that you can customize with your brand colors.
You can also add products to your catalog, choose which appear in your shop, and create collections to feature. When you’re ready, publish your shop. It will go live once Facebook has reviewed and approved it.
How to manage your Facebook shop with an ecommerce platform
- Use the Facebook & Instagram app for Shopify
- Sync a partner platform during setup
- Import items to Commerce Manager after setup
Many ecommerce platforms, including Shopify, integrate with Meta (Facebook’s parent company), allowing you to easily import and sync your product catalog. There are three main ways to do this:
1. Use the Facebook & Instagram app for Shopify
If you use Shopify, you can easily create a Facebook shop. In the Shopify App Store, download the Facebook & Instagram app. From there, manageFacebook Shops orders directly from your Shopify admin account.
2. Sync a partner platform during setup
If you have an ecommerce site with a popular ecommerce platform and don’t yet have a Facebook shop, Facebook allows you to integrate your existing product catalog during setup.
On the create your shop page, select “Sync a partner platform” from the menu on the right-hand side. Facebook then redirects you to set up your shop through the partner ecommerce platform.
3. Import items to Commerce Manager after setup
If you didn’t connect your ecommerce platform to your Facebook shop during setup, you can still do so. Connecting a partner ecommerce platform allows you to easily import an existing catalog.
Some of the ecommerce platforms that allow you to import products to Commerce Manager include those listed below. Follow these links to learn how to connect your shop to each platform:
- Shopify
- adMixt
- BigCommerce
- CedCommerce
- ChannelAdvisor
- CommerceHub
- DataCaciques
- Ecwid
- Feedonomics
- GoDaddy(US only)
- Magento
- OpenCart
- Quip
- Shift4Shop
- Wix
- WooCommerce
Once you’ve connected your ecommerce platform account to your Facebook shop, you can manage your catalog directly from the partner platform. Changes will sync automatically with Facebook. To see the latest syncs, you can go to Commerce Manager > Catalog > Data sources.
Facebook recommends not changing your catalog directly in Commerce Manager once you’ve set up a partner integration.
How to create a Facebook shop FAQ
How do you add products to your Facebook shop?
If you use Shopify or another supported ecommerce platform, products from your ecommerce store will automatically sync with your Facebook shop. To add products manually, go to Facebook Commerce Manager > Catalog > Data Sources > Add Manually.
Does it cost to set up a shop on Facebook?
There is no cost to set up a Facebook shop. Meta charges a 5% fee per shipment. If you use Shopify Payments, you’ll be charged your usual fees from Shopify, not Meta.
Can I sell on Facebook without a website?
Yes, you can sell on Facebook without a website. All you need to set up a Facebook shop is a Facebook business page. You can also sell through Facebook Marketplace and in Facebook groups.
