How Can Facebook Shop & Instagram Shop Increase Sales for e-Commerce?

Facebook shop and Instagram shop can increase sales for your business. Although I have seen this most effective for companies that sell tangible products, social media can be a great tool to help maximize sales without having to pay for advertisement. 

If you have not implemented a social media plan that includes Facebook shop and Instagram shop, allow me to point out a few reasons why you should.

Consumer Purchase Research Shifted to Social Media

I recently developed an obsession for home decor and furniture. Without fault, Instagram began to aggressively push furniture and home decor ads on my feed, and I did not mind because it made my search one hundred times easier and faster.

Once I saw an ad that displayed an item I was interested in, I always visited their business account and, before looking at anything else, I instantly went to their shopping tab.

If I do that, imagine how many of your potential customers do the same. Consumers may have an initial interest in what you are advertising, but keep in mind that they’ve seen similar ads from competitors and are comparing prices right on social media. 

If they don’t have access to the information they need in order to make their purchase decision, they drop off and don’t make it to your website.

What is Facebook Shop or Instagram Shop

As a marketing professional, business owner, and a social media manager or specialist, if you do not know what the shop tab is, it is important for you to find out.

The shopping tab is a tab within your page that only displays the products and prices you offer. All your listed products can also be tagged in the images you post, the same way you tag accounts on Instagram and Facebook. 

There’s more! Customers can purchase your products right from your Instagram account by being redirected straight to your website’s checkout page.

In addition, customers can save your listed products and it appears in their Wish List for a potential purchase in the future. If customers can’t save your products on their Instagram, or purchase from your Instagram, they may simply not bother going to your website to make that purchase. I say this because, as a consumer myself, I have done it multiple times.

How Can a Social Media Shop Drive Sales?

Let me bring to your attention these statistics to help you grasp the importance of this particular Instagram and Facebook feature.

In the a recent research by Global Web Index, the following was discovered.

• 70% of monthly consumers purchase products online

• 40% of 16-24 year olds use social media for product research

• This Graphic shows that a ‘buy button’ increases the chance of purchase up to 13% globally and 14%-16% for consumers between the age 25 to 54 year olds.

• 43% to 40% of consumers between the age of 16 to 44 use social networks to research products

Here is my own illustration on what most consumer’s buying process is when using social networks with and without the shop tab on your account.

As demonstrated in the flow chart above, by not having your products listed on your social media accounts, you lose a significant amount of customers. It is not a surprise, considering how impatient we have become as a society.

By listing your products on social media, you facilitate the research and buying process of your consumers.

Now where do these lost potential consumers go? They, most likely, purchased through a competitors’ social media account because the purchase process was easier, convenient, and faster for them as the product information was instantly available.

The same way websites are crucial to any modern sales and marketing strategy, listing your products on your social media accounts should be as well.

What are your thoughts and experience with Instagram Shop and Facebook Shop?