How To Create an Instagram Shop

Fueled by the pandemic, social and e-commerce sales are at an all-time high. Social commerce sales are predicted to value $605 billion by 2027. Instagram Shopping, which launched in 2019, allows brands to add product tags directly to images on Instagram. Buyers, more than ever, expect a highly visual and seamless online shopping experience. And there are quantifiable benefits to brands too: According to Meta, Checkout partners that tag 5+ days per month on feed see, on average:

• 278% increase in product page visits
• 231% increase in purchases
• 216% increase in sales

Instagram Shopping, and other social commerce opportunities, are one part of an integrated social and e-commerce experience, which may also include a visual link-in-bio like LikeShop, and integrated Shoppable UGC Galleries on site.

What is Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping enables a brand’s audience to either purchase products directly on Instagram, or add links to product pages on the brand's site. Instagram Shopping offers a much more streamlined experience than the existing method of shopping on Instagram, in which a user sees an image and manually searches on a brand's website to find that specific product. Offering a suite of tools that allows businesses to sell products directly to consumers through product tags on images and videos, Instagram Shopping makes it easy for brands to get started with social commerce.

By bringing shopping features directly to where consumers are spending their time, brands can use Instagram Shopping to tell their story, share visual content, and sell products all at the same time. 

With a dedicated shop directly on your profile, the ability to create collections of products, unique product detail pages, and in-platform checkout, Instagram Shopping can take your brand's e-commerce game to the next level.

How to Add Shopping Feature on Instagram

Setting up your Instagram Shop is very simple, but there are a couple things you’ll need to do before getting started. First, ensure your Instagram account is a business or creator profile, and if so, make sure your Facebook account is connected. You will also need a website domain with shoppable product listings, so if you haven’t already connected your website, you will need to do that before getting started.

After getting the pre-setup finished, you can go ahead and access Business Manager if you have not already done so. This allows you to set up your Commerce Manager, which enables the Instagram Shopping features. With your Business Manager account, you can begin filling out the required information within the Commerce Manager, or directly through the Instagram app.

Once approved, you are ready to start selling!

Product Tagging With Dash Hudson

Dash Hudson’s Instagram Product Tags enable brands to add shopping tags as they’re scheduling their posts, ensuring that product tags are live for every second that the post is. Easier product tagging means more ROI from Instagram and more time back in your day.

How to Tag Products in Your Instagram Feed 

For brands that do not use a scheduler with Product Tagging enabled, creating seamless Instagram Shopping tags is a little bit more involved, but still relatively seamless. The following steps will guide you through your e-commerce journey across all Instagram formats.

How to Tag Instagram Products in Feed Posts, Reels, or IGTV

1. Start by creating a feed post, reel, or IGTV as normal.
2. When you are just about ready to publish, click ‘Tag Products’, and add your product tag.
3. Select the product or collection, click ‘Done’.

How to Tag Instagram Products in Stories

1. Start by creating a Story as normal. 
2. Add a ‘Product Tag’ Sticker. Search through your Instagram Shopping catalog to find the product or collection you are looking to highlight.
3. Select the product or collection, click ‘Done’.

How to Tag Instagram Products in Instagram Live

1. Click to the plus sign on your home feed, and select the ‘Live’ option.
2. Click on ‘Shopping’. Search through your Instagram Shopping catalog to find the product or collection you are looking to highlight.
3. Select the product or collection, click ‘Done’, and start the Live whenever you’re ready to go!

Different Types of Instagram Shopping Posts 

With Instagram Shopping, you can choose to tag products in 4 different types of posts.

Instagram Feed Posts — Within your single image or video feed posts, Instagram Shopping allows you to tag up to 20 shoppable products. Wanting to tag more than one image?  No problem - Opt for a carousel post in which you can tag products in multiple images or videos.

Instagram Stories — To make your life even easier and allow for maximum opportunity to sell your products, you can also tag products in your Story Posts.  

Instagram Live — Going live on Instagram to highlight a product has never been easier. Select the product you want to tag and it will be displayed during the whole live stream!

Instagram Reels — With the rise in importance of short-form, vertical video, product tagging in Reels is key to highlighting your products. Instagram Shopping allows you to tag up to 30 products in a Reel, so you can highlight full collections or types of products in a single video with ease.

How to Create Successful Posts Using Instagram Shopping

1. Space out your tags

When sharing content with more than one tag, it’s important to give them space so that your audience can distinguish products. Frame your photography so that each shoppable product takes up a distinguishable space, and use tools such as Dash Hudson’s product tagging integration to plan out your layout in advance.

2. Video content has higher engagement

Pairing video content with e-commerce is a match made in heaven, as your shoppable content will benefit from the higher engagement rates that video content delivers.

3. Optimize your hashtags to be discovered

Your followers will likely be further along the buying journey than the rest of your audience. That being said, you can take advantage of Instagram’s discoverability and Explore page by optimizing your shoppable content with appropriate tags in order to appear in users’ search results—including people who haven’t heard of your brand.

4. Show how useful your products are

Relatable, action-oriented content drives the best conversions, and no matter what industry you’re in, showing your content in action is the best way to prove to audiences that it’s worth buying.

5. Make use of user-generated content

Your biggest fans are already posting great content about your brand on social media, and no content is more authentic than posts from happy customers. Incorporating UGC, influencers, and micro influencers in your social commerce strategy will help audiences picture themselves with your product, which will drive conversions. 

Instagram Shopping FAQs

Do you have to pay for Instagram shopping?

Instagram Shopping is free to all users. The only time you would need to spend money on your Instagram Shopping is if you wanted to run an advertisement for your Instagram Shop.

Why can’t I set up Instagram shopping?

If you are unable to set up Instagram Shopping, It is likely due to one of three things. One, you may not have your account set up as a Business or Creator Account; Two, you don’t have your website domain with a shoppable store connected to your Instagram account; Or three, you have not created a Business Manager account. If you are running into any of these issues, see the outlined steps for setting up Instagram Shopping above.

Where is the shopping feature on Instagram?

On the business end, you can find the Instagram Shopping features by going to your Profile > Settings > Business > Shopping. On the consumer side, you can find the Instagram Shopping explore page in the bottom navigation bar with the shopping bag icon, or by visiting a business profile and clicking ‘View Shop.'