Connecting your online store to Facebook by Meta

You can sell directly on Facebook with the Facebook Shop section on your Facebook business page. To create the Facebook Shop section, you have to connect your online store with Facebook.

After connecting your online store with Facebook, your products appear in the Facebook Shop catalog. All products from the catalog are displayed on the Shop section on your Facebook business page where customers can browse and buy your goods. Any product updates you make in your store admin are sync with your Facebook Shop catalog. 

Starting August 10, 2023 Meta restricts the number of countries that can host Facebook Shop and use features associated with Shops like product tagging on Instagram. Still, you can connect your online store with Facebook even if Facebook Shop is not allowed in your country and run ads across both Facebook and Instagram.

Requirements for creating a Facebook Shop

Before you connect your product catalog to Facebook, your business needs to meet Meta requirements:

  • Your business is located in the following countries: America: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States; Europe: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine; APAC: Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand.
    Even if your business is located outside of the USA and 21 exempt countries, you still can use Facebook for your business to run ads.
  • You have a Facebook business page and Facebook Business Manager, for both of which you carry an admin role.
  • Product’s price is greater than $0.00. You can’t sell free samples.
  • Products require shipping. So it can't be digital products, or services.
  • Products comply with Facebook Commerce policies and Guidelines for listing products.
  • Your store’s currency is supported by Facebook.
  • Your store domain is verified so that Facebook knows that you are the owner of the website.
  • (for the US stores) Checkout on Facebook and Instagram is enabled in your store.

Syncing your online catalog with Facebook

For US merchants with existing Facebook Shops: As part of the changes initiated by Meta, beginning on April 24, 2024, you will need to enable Checkout with Facebook and Instagram.

To sell or advertise your products on Facebook, you need to connect your store catalog to Facebook. After syncing, your products appear in the Facebook Shop catalog so you can showcase your goods in Facebook Shop, tag products on Instagram, or run ads across Facebook and Instagram.

As part of the syncing process, you'll connect several types of accounts related to your Facebook account, including a:

  • Business Manager account for managing the business. You can only connect your store to one Facebook Business Manager account. Multiple online store accounts require independent Business Managers accounts and Facebook pages and vice versa.
  • Facebook Page for your business.
  • Facebook Pixel to track ad and store performance.
  • Ad account for managing ads.
  • Instagram account for tagging products on Instagram.
If you already have an active Shop section on your Facebook business page, connecting the store will override the existing products.

To connect your store to Facebook:

  1. From your store admin, go to Facebook and click + Connect Facebook page.
  2. In the popup, log into your Facebook account or continue with your account if you are already logged in.
  3. Follow the wizard. Select features you'd like to use with your products:
  4. Once you complete the wizard and are redirected to your Facebook page in store admin, click Set Category to assign a marketplace category to your catalog. Category information is used for tax calculation, ranking, and indexing on Facebook.
    If you sell products from different categories, like coffee beans and mugs, assign different categories to different products.
  5. From the Marketplace Category dropdown, choose your category. From the Product condition dropdown, choose what products do you sell — new, refurbished, or used.
  6. Click Save.
  7. (for new Facebook Shops) You need to verify your store on Facebook.
  8. (for the US stores) To meet Meta requirements, make sure you have Checkout on Facebook and Instagram enabled, set up your shipping profile and specify your bank account in the Commerce Manager.

That's it. Facebook will review your store before allowing you to sell on Facebook. This review usually takes between 24 and 48 hours. In some cases, Facebook requires you to verify the domain of your store.

Once your store is approved by Facebook, your products will appear in the Facebook Shop catalog.

If your store is rejected, ensure your products comply with Facebook policy. If you believe a product is incorrectly rejected, appeal this decision.

 

Hiding Facebook Shop from the Facebook Page

You can hide the Shop section from your Facebook business page. For example, if you run a seasonal business or want to temporarily close the store for maintenance.

When you hide your Facebook Shop, customers won't be able to see your Shop, products or collections anywhere on Facebook or Instagram. Still, you will be able to run ads with products from the Facebook Shop catalog.

To hide the Shop section from your Facebook business page:

  1. From your store admin, go to Facebook page.
  2. Click the link near the Commerce Manager.
  3. Click Shops.
  4. Click Edit shop near the shop you want to hide.
  5. In the top left corner, click Settings → Visibility.
  6. Click Edit visibility and turn off the Visible toggle.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Click Save and Publish updates.

That's it. All your sales channels will be hidden.

Disconnecting your store from Facebook

Disconnecting your online catalog from your Facebook will clear your Facebook Shop settings, remove your Facebook Shop section, and stop syncing products from your online catalog. If you disconnect Facebook from your store, you won't be able to tag products on Instagram and run ads across Facebook and Instagram.

If you track Facebook Pixel data or have Instagram product tagging associated with your catalog, disconnecting/reconnecting the Facebook Shop could cause the loss of that data.

To disconnect Facebook from online store:

  1. From your store admin, go to Facebook.
  2. Click Disconnect the page.

You can reconnect back your store to Facebook anytime.

Facebook shop FAQ

What to do if Facebook Shop is not available in my country?

Even if your country is restricted by Meta from selling on Facebook and Instagram, you can still use those social media platforms for your business. You can connect your online store product catalog with the Facebook Shop catalog. That catalog won’t be visible for customers since there will be no Shop section on your Facebook page and you won’t be able to tag products on Instagram. However, you can still use it to create ads with your products in it.

You can run ads across Facebook and Instagram. You can create ad marketing campaigns with your products and show them to the relevant audience on Facebook and Instagram. Note that since you are no longer able to use features associated with Facebook Shop, you can’t create new custom or lookalike audiences derived from people who visited Shop. Still, you can create new custom or lookalike audiences derived from your website visitors or ads viewers.

Why do I see a lot of duplicate products in my Facebook Shop?

Most likely, your products have variations with unique SKUs that Facebook treats as individual items.

Only store admins can see these duplicated products. If you browse your Facebook Shop in an incognito mode, products will show up in a standard way – with options.

To solve this issue, try re-syncing your catalog with Facebook.

Why some of my product categories are missing in Facebook Shop?

Enabled products that are assigned to the subcategory of the second level (including its subcategories) will be grouped into a separate collection on Facebook.

For example, you have two subcategories of the second level (Kids T-shirts and Adult T-shirts) that belong to the root category called T-shirts. You will have two collections in your Facebook Shop – T-shirts / Kids T-shirts and T-shirts / Adult T-shirts.

In case the Kids T-shirts subcategory has child subcategories (e.g., different designs or styles), the products from the child subcategories will be grouped under the same collection of T-shirts / Kids T-shirts on Facebook.

Why some of my products in Facebook Shop do not have options?

Product variations (e.g., size and color variants) will be uploaded to the Facebook Shop with corresponding selections. Products that have a variation that reads “any choice” will be uploaded without variations.

You can manage the product variations in your store admin, go to Catalog → Products. Open the product in editing mode and switch to the Options tab.

Can shoppers on Facebook checkout with multiple products?

If you sell in the US and have Checkout on Facebook and Instagram enabled, customers can add multiple items to your cart. If you sell outside the US, then customers can only buy one item at a time. However, the quantity of a single product can be adjusted.

Do hidden categories/products in hidden categories export/sync?

No. Products that are in hidden categories, and the hidden categories themselves will not export/sync.

Can I tag my Facebook Shop products in my Instagram photos?

Yes. See Sell on Instagram for more information.

How do I move the Shop tab on my Facebook page?

To rearrange the Shop tab in the Facebook menu:

  1. On your Facebook business page, go to Settings → Edit page located at the top right corner.
  2. Drag-and-drop the Shop tab where you prefer on the list of other tabs.

How can I display the Shop on the Home tab of my Facebook page?

Displaying the Shop section on the Home tab page is controlled algorithmically by Facebook. Users can not control this. You as an admin may see the Shop section shown on the Home tab, however, your page visitors cannot see it there.

facebook_shop.png

The Shop section may be displayed on the Home tab of the pages that do not have any other activity in terms of media or posts.

You can share products on your Facebook Timeline to reach out to people who are already following you and encourage them to visit your Shop and browse your products.

Why don't my customers see my Facebook Shop in their browser?

Starting February, 2024 Facebook only allows users to browse any Facebook Shop only from their Facebook app. Viewing Facebook Shops from browsers (either on PC, Mac, or mobile) is no longer possible.

Related articles

Ads campaign on Facebook
Tagging products on Instagram

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