You’ve probably heard it time and time again: You need to get on Facebook.
So, what’s one of the spots online that people spend the most time?
Correct: FACEBOOK
In fact, Facebook users spend an average of 20+ minutes per day on the popular social network.
That’s quite a bit of time considering this happens on a daily basis. Not to mention, many of us can think of our personal experiences of spending way too much time clicking on links and liking posts on Facebook throughout the workday.
Therefore, it’s time to take advantage of Facebook as a selling platform – well not a fully fledged one like Shopify or your OWN E-Commerce Website but certainly with a lot of Traffic.
If you aren’t already aware, you have the ability to create a Facebook shop page and directly sell items to your followers.
You can see my own Shop (as example) here
Before I start it goes without saying
You need a to have a Facebook BUSINESS PAGE (not just a Profile)!
You need to be logged in.
Step 1: Go to Your Facebook Page and Add a New Section
The first step is to navigate to your Facebook Business page. Obviously, you need to be logged into the business page and have admin privileges, but once you go to your timeline you can see a button called Add a Shop Section. It’s located just below the cover photo, to the right.
A popup reveals itself, so you should click Add Shop Section once again.If you do not see SHOP then look for ADD NEW TAB and choose SHOP
Agree to the merchant terms and policies and click Continue.
Step 2: Setup Your Shop Details
Another popup comes up asking about some business details. Start by punching in your business email address. I would recommend checking the box that uses the email for custom service inquiries. This way, any questions that people have are sent to that account.
Towards the bottom of the popup, you should punch in your business address, including the street name, city, state and zip code.
Step 3: Configure Your Payments
You have two options for accepting payment through your Facebook store. The first is processing the payments through the Facebook page. The other involves redirecting customers to another website, like your online shop or website.
Since the most convenient for your customers is to have them check out on Facebook, that’s what we recommend.
Once you select that you’d like to have a checkout on Facebook, proceed by filling in your business information. US users can set up an account through Stripe or PayPal. If you’re located outside of the US, you can arrange an alternative payment method with your customers, such as a bank transfer or cash upon delivery.
Anyway, right above the area that asks for your business address, it talks about setting up your payment system. Click on the link that says to connect to an existing Stripe account. If you don’t currently have a Stripe account, Stripe will send you an email to set one up. That’s after you configure your entire store.
Logging into a current Stripe account is pretty simple. Facebook walks you through the steps to connect the two platforms together.
Note: The PayPal option is still being rolled out, so some business page users won’t see it yet.
Step 4: Finish Your Shop Setup
Once your Stripe account is completely connected, it should redirect you back to the primary Facebook business page. Click on the Finish Setup button to complete filling in the rest of your business information.
This is a fairly simple process, and it all depends on the type of business you run. Once you walk through the final steps the Facebook page becomes live for you to start selling. This doesn’t mean you have anything to sell just yet, but your shop page is configured and your payment platform is ready to start accepting purchases.
Step 5: Add a Product to Your Facebook Shop
Now that you’re ready to start selling, let’s talk about how to add a few products that people can look at and consider buying.
You should see a Shop tab on your Facebook business page. Click on this tab to reveal a box that asks you to add a product. Select the Add Product link to move forward.
Click on the Add Photos button to insert product images that reveal what your product looks like. This works just like any other uploading interface where you can grab an image from your computer and upload it to the Facebook page. After you upload the photos you’ll need to select the Use Photos button to make them live.
A Product Details area shows up after you’ve included the photos. Once again, this all depends on the type of products you’re selling, so feel free to get creative and talk about what makes the product special. You can also simply copy the product description you use on your ecommerce shop.
If your item has different color or size options, or just about any other variant you could think of, click on the Edit Variants link to configure the variants offered through the product. In addition, you can also include shipping methods, pricing and other content like product categories.
Step 6: Managing Your Products
When you’ve uploaded a certain amount of products, you’ll see each of them placed in a list for you to click on and modify. From the list view, you can see an image of the product, pricing and whether or not the product is visible to the public.
If you have any questions about building your Facebook Shop, contact me.
I can build a Facebook Shop for you. Facebook Shops are free to set up my fee is for Online Time only.
I would also need your login details and of course your Product and Business Details to be able to add them. Once your Shop is set up you can either change your Passwords and/or carry on adding Products yourself.
If you have a Page outside the US, you can add one of the following two shop types: Message to Buy or Check Out on Another Website. The Check Out on Facebook shop type is only available for US pages at the moment.