Instagram, which was earlier only known for sharing snaps and creative videos, has now gradually developed into a platform for creators and businesses with the launch of Instagram Shopping.

With Shopping, you can now expand your brand’s presence and get more sales by surfacing your products where people are already interacting. Drive further to know how to get approval for Instagram Shopping and sell through Facebook and Instagram. 

What is Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping lets you extend your business to a broader audience base and grow your product’s visibility through your organic posts, stories, and live shopping. People can navigate your business profile, discover products, and make purchases within the app with checkout or in your stores.

Instagram Shopping is currently accessible in the US, Canada, Australia, Spain, Brazil, the UK, Italy, France, Germany. However, checkout on Instagram is currently limited to US merchants and will be rolling out to other regions.

Requirements to sell on Instagram Shopping

To sell on Instagram Shopping, you have to fulfill certain criteria:

  • Your business must be located in the supported market
  • You must adhere to Commerce Policies.
  • You must have an Instagram business profile.
  • Instagram business accounts must be connected to the Facebook Page.
  • You must be an admin of the Page or Business Manager account.
  • Your business must own a website on which you intend to sell.

How to get the approval of Instagram Shopping

To get approved for Instagram Shopping and surface your products on Instagram, you must ensure to fulfill the following conditions and follow the setup procedure one by one.

Review your Instagram Policies

Make sure that you follow the Community guidelines and Commerce Policies to get approved on Instagram Shopping. The basic requirements for the approval are:

  • You need to sell physical products.
  • You should not sell prohibited products like adult products, alcohol, animals, digital, etc.
  • Your post should be authentic and free from copyright issues.
  • Your Instagram post doesn’t discriminate based on creed, color, gender, etc.

Moving down further, the next step will be to keep a check on the type of Instagram account you have.

Convert your Instagram personal account to business account

To facilitate Instagram Shopping, you need to convert your Instagram personal account to a business account. For this:

  • Go to ‘Setting.’
  • Scroll down to the ‘Switch Business account.’
  • Create a Business account.

After setting up your business account, you can mention your business information such as location, phone number, etc.

Now that you are on a business page, you have to create a link between your Facebook Page and Instagram to make the selling experience seamless and easy.

Connect your Instagram Business profile to Facebook Page

After converting your Instagram personal account to a business account, you need to connect it with the Facebook Page catalog to initiate effortless selling on Instagram Shopping. To connect your profile:

  • Go to your Instagram profile and select ‘Edit Profile.’
  • Visit ‘Public business information’ and select ‘Page’ and choose a Facebook Page you want to connect with your Instagram business profile.
  • In case you don’t have a Facebook Page, you can create a new page.

Make sure that your Facebook Page must have a ‘Shop Template.’

As you move ahead, a catalog is needed to hold all the product data that you wish to showcase on Instagram.

How to add a catalog?

You can either add an existing catalog or create a new catalog and connect it with the Instagram business profile. You can add a catalog:

  • Through Commerce Manager: You can either create a new catalog or connect with an existing catalog from Facebook. In this catalog, you can upload the products manually. This could be time-consuming and requires manual work.
  • Through Facebook listing partners: You can also connect with Facebook listing partners, and upload the products in bulk by connecting your Instagram profile with the Facebook page without much of a hassle. The marketplace connector also lets you manage your orders from a centralized location and sell effortlessly.

Now, you are ready to apply for the approval of Instagram Shopping.

Setting up your account for review

Once you have attached your product catalog to your Instagram profile, you can submit your profile for review. For submitting, you have to follow certain steps:

  • Go to ‘Setting’ in your Instagram profile.
  • Sign up for shopping and fill the necessary details.
  • Submit your account for review.

Some businesses receive a notification for the domain verification. In this case, you can complete your domain verification process by following the required steps and submit it again.

How long does it take to get approved for Instagram Shopping

As your Instagram account goes under review for Instagram Shopping. The review process can take up to a few weeks. However, it may take longer, depending upon your profile and business size. In any case, you can visit your profile to check the progress:

  • Go to ‘Setting.’
  • Click on ‘Business’ and check the status by your approval.

You can also contact Facebook customer support for your further queries. As soon as you receive the notification of your account approval, you can start tagging your products in your posts and stories.

Bring your Business on Instagram

Tapping into Instagram Shopping is the next big thing in the fast-moving eCommerce industry. You can get your products among a wider audience and ignite purchases right at the moment of discovery, even if you are starting new or already into the business. Harness the new social channel effortlessly with partners who will help you right from onboarding to hassle-free selling experience. Leave us your queries in the comments, if you need any kind of support.

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