How to add your products to Google Shopping, Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops

So, here we are: you've worked really hard to get your products ready for a new online market, spent time developing your brand, building your following on social media, and had a blast designing your unique online store - you are ready.to.rock! Today, I've got even better news for you: there are options to list your items for sale with Google (to appear in that wonderful "Shopping" tab on search) and excellent opportunities for creating sales funnels via Instagram and Facebook, too.

To give your incredible products the best chance of being seen, you'll need to put them in front of your customers - on their screens, at least - and that means taking advantage of these tools. For your convenience, we've broken down how to add your products to Google, Facebook Pages, Marketplace and Instagram.

In this article:

Google Shopping

Facebook Page Shop & Marketplace

Instagram Shopping

Facebook Commerce - what's to come

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." Wayne Gretzky

Google Shopping

According to Google, they're the #1 driver of retail business sales and the #1 place people go to discover a new item or product - and they're right. Think about whether you're searching for handmade leather shoes, a new botanical gin, or the best price for a plane ticket to Portugal - your journey almost certainly starts with Google.

With Google's Merchant Centre solutions, you can reach more customers - both locally and globally - whether they're ready to buy or just looking for ideas. At Shopstar, we believe the time of the South African online store is here and that South Africans are looking to purchase local products that stand shoulder to shoulder with international brands. Not only are purchasers aware of shipping costs and the effect on our environment but they also actively want the South African economy to be re-injected with their hard-earned Rands. But, they need to see that similar local products are available and that's your job.

The Google Merchant Centre provides tools and takes you through the steps to get your shop and product information into their system to make it accessible to shoppers across Google so that everything about your online store and its products is available to customers when they search on Google.

Tip: Google has a whole suite of tools including images, search, maps and more, so try to complete as much as possible on your Google Business Profile to make the best use of these tools. 

To add your products to Google, you can follow the set-up instructions step by step on Google Merchant Centre or watch this quick tutorial video for an overview.

Below are our best practices for listing your products with Google:

• Be sure to upload accurate and up-to-date product information with quality photos. Nobody likes buying a sleek black Bluetooth speaker only for it to arrive in hot pink with yellow spots.
• You can showcase your products across a range of paid and unpaid channels across Google, Shopping Ads, Shopping Actions and other Google services. Take your time to set up your Merchant Centre and keep a list of where you're listing what products so it's easy to go back and make changes if you need to.
• Keep an eye on your insights to see how your products are performing across the various services, you'll find insights on pricing, buyer behaviour and merchandising that could bring new sales opportunities to mind.
• A whopping 40% of global shoppers say that they use Google to find the best deal. C'mon, you've done it, too! Merchant Centre allows you to set up promotions for your Shopping ads site wide or product specific.We've all seen those and, let's be honest, for an online shopper, they can be the decider between browsing and buying.
• Check out Opportunities - that's in the Merchant Centre too - can offer real solutions and suggestions for improving your product data or campaigns to drive more clicks.
• Finally, there are limits and best practices for using Google Shopping, please review their policies and requirements here.

Facebook Page Shop and Marketplace

25 million South Africans are on Facebook. That's just over 40% of our population and a lot of potential eyeballs for your beautiful, sassy and stylish online store and products. And things are moving pretty fast as Facebook implements their new Commerce Manager to manage Facebook, Marketplace & Instagram stores in one place. But, for now, South Africans, you can create a shop within your Facebook page (and on Instagram, see below) and add your products to Marketplace on Facebook. 

Facebook Page Shop

If you don't yet have a Facebook Business Page, you can follow these steps to set one up for your online store brand. Setting up your shop on your page is simple (especially since you'll have your products, images, pricing and descriptions from setting up your Shopstar store), you can follow these steps to ensure that you tick all the boxes and direct buyers to your Shopstar store to complete their purchases.

Targeted ads on Facebook are really reasonable, starting at just R10 a day, and you can target your desired audience by age, location, buying behaviours, interests, hobbies and much more. It's a really worthwhile investment. You can find out more about using Facebook ads here. You'll also find some cool videos and case studies if you want to take a deeper dive into ads. 

Here are some examples for your inspiration:

The Fabric Store

DressLily

Avon

Epic Deals

Tip: Use clear and consistent imagery so that people can recognise your products easily

Facebook Marketplace

If you enjoy browsing markets: crafts, repurposed, restored, unique pieces then Marketplace is a similar experience. If your audience likes similar unique products and treasure hunting, then your products could find a home on Marketplace. You can add your products directly to Marketplace or boost your Facebook shop's products to appear in search results. Be sure to keep your product names and descriptions accurate and expect to get a few "Is this item still available" messages. Be responsive and enthusiastic - these could turn into sales. For step-by-step instruction, you can follow along here. Because Marketplace is designed to connect people in a more local setting, you may find that you get enquiries largely based on your location - yay for South African customers!

Here are some fun search results to get you started:

Makramee

Karoo

Matric Dance Dresses

Beard Care

Instagram Shopping

Instagram users are a passionate, visual bunch and they love nothing better than scrolling through a beautifully curated feed full of photos of things they love: the ocean, shoes, artworks, wildlife, sunsets, labradors - you name it, Instagram users will have found it. This enjoyment can be a super asset for your products as users can enjoy a full-screen experience while finding out about your products without ever leaving the app: they can tap on a product to see its price,learn more about it and follow the buying process. Shopping on Instagram is a really fun experience - a bit like going down a rabbit hole of things you love! In order to create your shop, you'll need to ensure that your account is a business account and then follow the quick guide here to set up your Instagram Shop. 

Our top tips for Instagram Shops:

• Be sure to complete as much of your business profile as possible: shop hours, auto-responses, website address etc so it's easy for your customers to reach out.
• You'll need to submit your shop for review to ensure that your account and store are authentic. Some businesses may be notified that they need additional information to prove ownership which is usually verifying your domain. If you struggle with this, please let us know.
• The product images that you upload to the catalogue for your store should be the same or similar to those on your website, clearly visible against a clean background. Showcase a single product at a time. 
• Maintain a consistent look and feel across your store or catalogue

Facebook Commerce Manager: What's to come

If Marvel gets to have a Multiverse, then Facebook would need to have a Metaverse and they're working on it! Facebook recently renamed itself Meta (as a collective for Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram) and, for online shopsters, their new Commerce Manager will include a single location to manage your stores for Facebook, Instagram and Marketplace all in one place. This should simplify things for you, but we'll have to wait a bit as Facebook rolls it out across the globe.