We already knew that Facebook is not only the place to keep in touch with your friends. You can also shop via the social media platform. Companies have the option to sell items through their Facebook page.
In May 2020, Facebook launched a new but highly anticipated tool called Facebook Shops. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, it became increasingly important for Facebook to launch this tool on time, as many companies have encountered problems due to the crisis. Thanks to this tool, companies can set up free online stores on both Facebook and Instagram. This update ensures that e-commerce via social media gets a big boost!
Do you not only want to sell your products physically but also online? Then we immerse you here in the world of Facebook Shops!
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What are Facebook Shops?
Facebook has already launched various initiatives to support the companies such as fundraising, gift cards via Instagram, etc. With the Facebook Shops, they go one step further. Facebook makes it easier for companies to sell their products online via both Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook Shops is basically a kind of web shop with which entrepreneurs can sell their physical products online. The tool is free and specially made for small entrepreneurs who often do not yet have a properly functioning webshop. But in principle, any entrepreneur can open a Facebook Shop.
How do Facebook Shops work?
Facebook users see the Facebook Shops coming back through their company profiles, in the Facebook stories, and in advertisements. After that, the processing of your purchase via Messenger will continue. Users also have the option to ask questions via chat. In the future, Facebook Shops also wants to use WhatsApp to contact the customer.
Facebook Shops is therefore the ideal way for entrepreneurs to generate income from the online sale of products without a webshop. In addition, it is a very handy tool to quickly introduce your followers and target group to your products.
In addition, Facebook also offers the possibility to link the ‘Live Shopping’ tool to your Facebook Shop. This allows you to tag your products that will appear in the video before starting a live video. When people watch your video, they can immediately follow the link to your products and buy them.
Facebook is also introducing the ‘Loyalty Program’ within the Facebook Shops. This allows entrepreneurs to set up a kind of loyalty program within their online store. Customers purchase products via Facebook and can receive a discount or save points for (free) products.
It is therefore mainly expected that especially small and starting entrepreneurs will make use of the Facebook Shops. It is very easy for them (no technical knowledge required) and they have quick contact with customers.
Benefits of Facebook Shops
By using Facebook Shops you get a number of advantages. We briefly explain them below.
- Simple: Facebook Shops is very easy to use. You don’t need any technical knowledge at all to create your own webshop. After you start your own webshop in a few minutes, you can already start managing it.
- Multilingual: the platform is immediately multilingual, making it suitable for a large and diverse audience. So users should not leave Facebook to visit your website in another language.
- Easy advertising: thanks to your own Shop it is a lot easier to advertise your own Facebook page. For Facebook, it’s much more appealing when you advertise something that leads away from their page. By advertising, via Facebook, you can quickly reach a large target group for Facebook Shops.
Now you’re probably thinking to yourself: is there a catch here? Facebook charges a 5% commission on all products sold. When we compare this with Bol or Amazon, this commission is certainly not too bad. It is even cheaper to sell your products via Facebook.
Supplies Facebook Shops
In order to open your own Facebook Shops, you must meet a number of requirements.
- You sell physical products and therefore no services or subscriptions.
- You have a bank account number.
- You are registered with the Chamber of Commerce and have your own VAT number.
- You have a business Facebook page.
To create a business account, you must therefore have a personal Facebook profile. Don’t have this yet? Then you can create this easily and for free via the Facebook website. Once you have created your own personal profile, you can click on ‘Create’ at the top of the home page and then on ‘Page’.
From here it is important to set up your page according to your own wishes and as a store. After creating your business page you can adjust the template via settings.
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How do you start a Facebook Shop?
But how do you start your own Facebook Shop? In the steps below we explain how you can easily open your own Facebook Shop and add your products.
Once you’ve created a business profile, you’ll find the ‘store’ or ‘shop’ tab on the left side of your page. After this, you will be guided step by step by Facebook with creating your own Facebook Shop.
1. Layout & Style
First of all, you get the option to adjust the layout and style of your own webshop. With these options, you can ensure that your Shop matches your own house style. You can also personalize the size, color, and appearance of your text and buttons in the first step.
In addition to the standard colors that Facebook proposes, there is also the option to enter your own house-style color via a HEX code. You can immediately see the result via the preview on the right. You can also switch between the look & feel on Instagram and Facebook.
2. Add payment method
Another important choice is the choice of payment method. You can choose 2 different payment methods :
- Payment via Facebook Messenger: you send your customers a personal message via the Facebook chat system. The big advantage of this is that you are in personal and direct contact with your customers and customers no longer have to be led to another website. So they drop out less quickly. The disadvantage of this system is that it is time-consuming because you have to handle all orders personally.
- External website payment: this means that you make the payment via an external website. This can be done, for example, via your own website, webshop, or payment provider. The advantage is that payments here are easy and very fast. The disadvantage of this payment method is that your customers are led away from Facebook and they can therefore drop out faster.
If you expect that you will not sell that much through your Facebook Shop in the beginning and you think personal contact is important, then paying via Facebook Messenger could be a good option.
Are you done creating your Facebook Shop? Then your Facebook Shop will appear on your Facebook and Instagram timeline via the above method. Hopefully, your online sales will increase thanks to the Facebook Shops!
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