How To Set Up Instagram Shopping For Your eCommerce Business

Instagram has become more than just a platform for sharing beautiful photos and life updates. In today’s digital landscape, it has evolved to become a robust marketplace that eCommerce businesses simply cannot ignore. It’s where brands can target shoppers where they spend most of their time: scrolling through feeds, exploring what’s new and looking for inspiration. 

Picture your customers being able to browse, save and buy your product in just a few taps. That’s the magic of the Instagram shop! If you’ve been considering expanding your eCommerce store to Instagram, there is no better time than now. 

This guide will dive into everything you need to know to get started, so read on to find out more. 

1. Create/Link Your Facebook Shop

Instagram Shopping is directly tied to Facebook, so the first step in setting it up is linking your Instagram account to a Facebook Shop. If you don’t already have one, you can easily set this up via your Facebook business page. 

Step 1: Go to the Facebook Commerce Manager, where you will create and manage your product catalogue. This is essentially the foundation of your Instagram Shop, housing all the products you want to sell on the platform.

Step 2: Add your product details which include names, descriptions, pricing and images. Instagram is super visually driven, so you want to ensure quality images are being uploaded to your Facebook catalogue. Poor visuals won’t cut it here. Make sure that your product photos are sharp, bright and in line with the style of your brand.

Also, take the time to resize images according to Instagram’s dimensions — square photos typically work best as they look polished and professional on your feed.

2. Set Up Your Instagram Business Profile

As soon as your Facebook Shop is ready, the next step is to make sure that your Instagram account is set up as a business profile. This might sound like a no-brainer but it’s key to enabling Instagram Shopping features.

If you’re currently using a personal account, you’ll need to switch to a business or creator account to access shopping tools. To switch, head to your profile settings and select “Switch to Professional Account.” Once you’ve chosen your category, select “Business” and follow the instructions to complete the transition.

This allows you to access Instagram insights and gives you a better idea of how your posts/stories are doing. Most importantly, it will allow you to tag products in your posts, stories and reels — making it easier for customers to shop directly from your content.

Once you have upgraded to a business account, make sure that your page is set up for shopping. Start by including a proper bio, website URL and matching feed aesthetics. Again, first impressions are important and you want your Instagram profile to feel like an extension of your online store.

3. Connect Your Product Catalogue to Instagram

After setting up your Facebook Shop and switching your Instagram profile over to a business one, it’s now time to connect your product catalogue. This is what will enable you to tag products in your posts and stories.

To do this, navigate to your Instagram settings and click on “Business.”

Then, click on “Set Up Instagram Shopping.”

Instagram will walk you through the steps of linking your Facebook catalogue with your Instagram account. When the catalogue is connected, Instagram will review your account to confirm it meets all of their standards, asheres with the commerce policies, and ensure your business is in a supported market. Approval takes a couple of days, but they will notify you once you get the green light.

4. Tag Your Products in Posts, Stories and Reels

Good news — your catalogue has been approved, and now you’re able to tag your products in posts, stories and reels! This is an amazing feature for your customers or followers. When they see a product they like, they can simply tap on the tag and get all the details, including the price, without having to leave the Instagram app. 

When posting to your feed, after you’ve added your caption and filters, you’ll see an option to “Tag Products.” Simply select this option and choose the product from your catalogue. The same goes for Instagram Stories and even your company’s Instagram Threads account — simply add a product sticker that leads to the item in your catalogue. You could even do this via reels which is a perfect way to display your products in an interesting and fun manner. You could even do this via reels which is the perfect way to display your products in an interesting and interactive way.

PRO TIP: Don’t go overboard with the tagging! While it’s tempting to tag multiple products in every post, focus on highlighting a few key items to keep the experience streamlined and authentic.

5. Use Instagram Insights + Ads

Once your Instagram Shopping setup is complete and your products are tagged, all that’s left to do is maximise the new potential, starting with Insights. 

Instagram Insights is the platform’s analytics tool and a great way to see how well your posts and shopping features are performing. You can track things like how many people clicked on your product tags, which products are getting the most attention, and how many users saved your posts for later.

These metrics are priceless when it comes to figuring out what your audience loves and creating follow up content. comes to figuring out what your audience loves and creating follow up content. 

In addition to organic reach, don’t forget about Instagram ads. Instagram allows you to create shoppable ads where users can tap directly on the products featured in your ad to purchase them. These ads can be highly effective at reaching a wider audience and driving more sales, especially if you target users who have shown interest in similar products.

Congrats! You’re Ready to Start Selling on Instagram

And voilà — you now have a full-fledged Instagram storefront. Instagram Shopping makes it super easy for your audience to browse and buy your products directly from their Instagram feed without ever leaving the app. From setting up your Facebook Shop to tagging products in posts and stories, you’ve laid the groundwork for reaching customers where they spend most of their time.

From here, work on crafting relevant, real content that resonates with your audience. Leverage Instagram insights to optimise your approach and pay attention to which products are performing best with followers. This is only just the beginning of your Instagram Shopping journey — as time goes on, you’ll find even more opportunities to connect with your customers and grow your sales. 

Congratulations! You’re officially ready to start selling on Instagram.