Step 1 - Set up a Meta Commerce Shop

In today’s digital landscape, selling your products online has become more accessible than ever. With Meta’s Commerce platform, you can create a shop that allows you to reach customers on Facebook and Instagram, making it easy for them to browse, interact, and buy your products all in one place. 

Setting up a Meta Commerce Shop is a seamless way to take your boutique or business to the next level by tapping into Meta’s massive user base. Let’s explore how a Meta Commerce Shop can benefit your business and provide step-by-step instructions to get you started!

How a Meta Commerce Shop Benefits Your Business

Setting up a Meta Commerce Shop opens doors to a global audience and enables a streamlined, social shopping experience. Here’s how it can benefit your business:

• Access to a Broader Audience: Facebook and Instagram collectively have billions of active users. Setting up a shop on these platforms allows you to showcase your products to a wider audience and connect with new potential customers.
• Integrated Shopping Experience: With Meta Commerce, customers can browse, ask questions, and purchase without leaving the platform, creating a smooth shopping journey. You can manage customer interactions and transactions all in one place.
• Enhanced Brand Visibility: A Meta shop gives your brand increased exposure on both Facebook and Instagram feeds. It boosts visibility through tagged posts, stories, and ads, making it easy for users to discover your products.
• Customer Insights: Meta provides valuable insights into customer behavior, helping you understand what products are performing well and how to tailor your offerings to match your audience's interests.

Step 1: Create a Meta Commerce Shop

Navigate to Meta Commerce

1. First, log into your Facebook Business Manager account at business.facebook.com.
   • If you don’t have an account, sign up for one and ensure you have an existing Facebook page for your business. If not, you can create one during this process.
2. Once logged in, select All Tools on the left-hand menu and then select Commerce Manager.
3. Under Commerce Accounts, select the blue + Add Account button to begin setting up your shop. You’ll be prompted to answer a few questions about your business.
4. Select Next on the bottom right corner.

Add your Business Information and Products

1. Meta will ask if you’re using a partner platform such as Shopify or BigCommerce. If you are, select it, otherwise, select ‘I don’t use these platforms’ to proceed directly with Meta’s tools.
2. Select the country where your business is located.
3. Select your Sales Channel. Select whether you want to manage your shop through Instagram, Facebook, or both and eenter your business email address.
   • Select Create a Facebook Page if you don’t have one. Enter a name, select a category, and add a bio to describe your business. Once done, select Create Page.
4. Add products to your shop. Select an existing catalogue or, if you don’t have one, select Add New Catalogue to create one. You’ll be able to add your products to this new catalogue later.

Set up Delivery and Return Policies

1. Select the regions you deliver to in the U.S. or other applicable countries and specify the types of addresses (residential, business) you can deliver to.
2. Set the expected delivery window, selecting the number of days you need to deliver orders. To comply with Meta’s merchant policies, ensure orders are delivered within this time frame.
3. Enable toggles for each delivery method you offer, set rates, a minimum for free delivery (if any), and estimated delivery times.
4. Define your return window, specifying the number of days customers have to return products after receiving them.

Add Contact Information

1. Enter Contact information so customers can reach out with questions or order assistance. This can be updated later as needed.
2. Toggle the Allow Messaging option to enable customers to message you directly on Facebook or Instagram for quicker support.

Set up Email Opt-In

1. Link your privacy policy to comply with data privacy regulations and provide transparency to customers.
2. Enable the Capture Customer Emails Automatically at Checkout toggle to allow customers to opt-in for marketing emails during checkout.

Once done, review all entered details and check the consent box at the bottom. Once everything looks good, select Finish Setup to submit your shop for review.

Step 2: Verify your Business Information

Review Pre-Verified Information (If available)

1. Navigate to your Commerce Manager dashboard.
2. Look for the top banner, guidance card, or pop-up with a Verify Now button. Select Verify Now to initiate the process.
3. If Meta has pre-verified information about your business, a pop-up will appear with pre-filled details.
4. Review the information thoroughly and, if everything is correct, select Confirm info.

Provide Business Details (If pre-filled information is not available)

If pre-filled information isn’t available, you’ll need to enter your business details manually.

1. Use the exact details you provided when registering your business in Commerce Manager. Accurate entry will ensure a smoother verification process.
2. Meta will attempt to find a matching business record based on the information provided:
   • If a Match is Found: You’ll be shown a list of possible matches. Select the organization that aligns with your business.
   • If No Match is Found: Meta will prompt you to submit documentation to confirm your shop’s identity. Gather documents such as business licenses, tax records, or other official documents that verify your business’s existence.
3. Select a preferred email or phone number for verification.
4. Meta will send a confirmation code to the selected contact. Enter the code when prompted to complete this part of verification.
5. You’ll need to submit documentation to verify your business address. This could be a utility bill, lease agreement, or any official document displaying your business’s registered address.

Once you’ve submitted all required information, Meta will review your account. The review typically takes a few business days. During this time, Meta ensures your shop complies with commerce eligibility requirements. To monitor the status, go to the Shops tab in your Commerce Manager.

Step 3: Set up a shop on Facebook and Instagram

Start by going to Commerce Manager. You should see Set up your shop at the top if you've successfully created a commerce account. You will need to complete a number of tasks to finish setting up your shop. This article will take you through each task.

Create Shop

This should already be marked as completed, as your shop was created during the Commerce Manager account creation process.

Checking your Shop Info

Not completed indicates that your commerce account is in review. The review process can take up to 4 weeks. Meta will update the status of your reviews in Commerce Manager. Meta will also send you an email if there are any actions you can take based on the results of your reviews. You will see Completed when the review is completed.

Optimize your Catalog

Select View details to complete syncing tasks and access additional functionalities:

1. Select catalog. This option may or may not be visible. It allows you to select which catalog to use with your shop.
2. Add product variant. Upload a data feed that will be checked against products in your catalog to ensure you don’t lose product events data when adding variants.
3. Change your dataset (optional). You can add a dataset (if you don’t have one), replace an existing dataset or keep an existing dataset.

Set up shipping profile

Select Set up to go to the Set up default shipping profile page. Here you can change a number of settings:

1. Profile name. Change the name of your shipping profile.
2. Country and States. Select the areas you will ship to.
3. Shipping speed. You must add at least one type of shipping speed. You can customize each speed by estimated delivery days and cart minimum for free shipping (if offered).
   • Standard shipping typically takes 5-8 days including handling time.
   • Expedited shipping takes 3-5 days including handling time.
   • Rush shipping takes 2-3 days including handling time.

When you’re finished, select Save.

Add checkout URL

A checkout URL transitions customers from your shop on Facebook and Instagram to the checkout process on your website. You must add a checkout URL for your shop to be visible.

Optimize your shop

Select Optimize shop to select a few optional enhancements:

1. Automatically personalize the layout of your shop’s home page. Optimize your shop’s layout to show people a personalized version based on their shopping history and interests.
2. Display ratings and reviews. Show customer ratings and reviews from your website and third-party sources.
3. Display offers. Meta will crawl your website and ads to detect offers, then display them in your shop to help drive conversions.

Publish shop

When all the steps under Set up your shop are completed, select Publish shop to publish your new shop.

Once your shop is approved and published, your shop will also display a footer that shows your shop’s name, a featured image, customer ratings and the Follow and Shop all products buttons.

Next, you can:

• Add products to your catalog that you want to sell. All products from your catalog are included in your shop by default, but you can also control which products appear.
• Create a collection, a group of products you want to feature in your shop.
• Customize your shop by featuring collections, products or promotion banners on your shop's home page. You can also control whether your shop is visible on Facebook and Instagram.