In an attempt to help businesses recover from the hardships brought on by COVID-19, Facebook has launched a new platform called “Facebook Shops”. This new product is free to use, and allows Facebook users to build a virtual storefront right within Facebook.
I dove right into Facebook Shops’ interface and procedures to see what creating and operating one of these stores is like. I used The Wardrobe Exchange, Ocala’s newest fine consignment store, to see just how to use it – and here is how it went!
For starters, Facebook has already incorporated a “Shop” button on all approved pages that seem to be commerce related. So for this consignment store, Facebook already had the Shop button ready. And when I pressed it, it gave me this little pop up. Click “Go to Commerce Manager” to complete your set up.
This is the Commerce Manager. This is where almost all of the set up takes place. When you click Link Business accounts, you’ll fill out the basic information about your business and what it offers.
The most important part of this step is the access to Facebook Business Manager. Don’t get this confused with the Commerce Manager! The business manager is a separate dashboard that you use to manage people, access, and pages that your business is related to. The commerce manager screen in step 1 will let you set up your Business Manager account.
This is the Business Manager Dashboard. In this Dashboard, you can control who has access to your pages and accounts as well as what pages are linked to your account.
This is a vital step. Make sure the person with Administrative access to your page adds your business’ Facebook page to the list of Pages controlled linked to that business. Adding your business’ Facebook page to your Business Manager list is the basis of using Facebook Shops.
Once you’ve added your page to your Business Manager, you can set up the rest of your commerce manager information!
You can set your shipping rates here as well as your return policies. These can be edited at any time after set up – however, if you already know how much you charge for shipping, Facebook gives you this option relatively early.
After that, it’s time to set up your pay out situation. This is mostly general information like your business address, category of sales items, as well as financial information like bank accounts and tax information (which I did not share here, for obvious reasons).
After that, there you are! You now have access to the full dashboard including orders, returns, inventory and anything else you may need. This is your new online business hub, with information about everything!
Facebook Shops was incredibly easy to set up and use, and has a series of great features involved with it. You can sync your store to Instagram and even buy shipping labels directly from the Commerce Manager, for a fee.
If you’re a small business who needs to boost your online traffic, or already have a strong Facebook following, it’s time to convert that traffic into sales for you and your business. An easy and convenient way to sell is now available with Facebook Shops.
