Instagram shopping: How to get set up and start making sales

Instagram Shopping is a feature that allows eCommerce brands of any size to create a shareable, shoppable catalog of their products right on Instagram.

Users can either purchase directly on Instagram (with Checkout) or click through to finish the transaction on the brand’s website.

For most brands, ecommerce should not be the primary focus of your Instagram account. This is a network that’s particularly effective for building long-term relationships that lead to high customer value over time. But shopping should definitely be part of your Instagram strategy. The stats back this up:

• People are looking for products on Instagram: 44% of Instagrammers use the platform to look for product reviews or recommendations, and 7% of U.S. consumers start their shopping searches on the platform. And those people follow through on their searches: 37.3% of U.S. Instagram users will make at least one purchase through the platform in 2025. Make sure your products are there for them to find, and easy to buy when they do.
• Shoppers spend more on Instagram than on other platforms: Instagram ranks highest among all social media platforms for people who spend $200 or more – 40.1% of Instagram shoppers reach this threshold. Perhaps that’s because 58% of Americans who earn more than $100K a year use the platform.

Instagram shopping features you need to know

Shop

An Instagram Shop is a customizable digital storefront, which allows customers to shop right from your Instagram profile. Think of it as a landing page where users can discover or browse all your products.

Tags

Shopping Tags allow you to tag products from your catalog in your organic Instagram content and ads, so your audience can tap through to learn more or buy right from their Instagram feed.

Saved Products

Formerly known as wish lists, this feature allows users to save your products for later, in case they’re not ready to buy right away. They simply tap the save icon on any product to add it to their saved products list within the Instagram app.

Checkout on Facebook or Instagram

This is Meta’s native payment solution that allows customers to complete purchases directly in Instagram, without leaving the app. It’s only available to U.S.-based shops. Shops in other supported markets link to a product detail page on the seller’s website to complete purchases.

How to get started in 6 easy steps

Step 1: Convert to a Business or Creator Account

If you don’t already have a Business (or Creator) account on Instagram, it’s time to take the plunge.

Besides qualifying you for Instagram Shopping features, Business accounts also have access to detailed analytics… and can use Hootsuite’s scheduling dashboard for posts, too.

Just tap Edit Profile, then Switch to professional account. Want more details? Here’s our step-by-step guide to switching your personal account over (and 8 reasons why you should!).

Step 2: Use Commerce Manager to set up a shop

1. Head to Commerce Manager to set up Instagram shopping. When you visit Commerce Manager for the first time, you’ll see a Get Started screen. Click Next to enter the workflow and set up your shop.

2. If you’re using a partner platform like Shopify or Magento, you can select it to create your Instagram shop directly on that platform. Otherwise, select I don’t use these platforms and click Next.

3. Choose the country where your shop is located. This will impact your available checkout methods. If your shop is based in the United States, you need to use Checkout on Facebook or Instagram, so it will bump you straight through to sales channels. For other countries, you can select Checkout on another website, or Checkout with messaging.

4. Select the Instagram business account you want to be associated with your shop. If you don’t already have a business portfolio set up on Meta (for a Facebook shop or Facebook business page), you’ll need to create one.

5. If you already have a product catalog set up on Meta , select it. Otherwise, click Create new catalog and give it a name. You’ll add products after you finish setting up your shop.

6. Select where you ship to, review your shop details, and click Finish setup to submit your shop for review by Meta.

Step 3: Upload your product catalog

You can either input every product manually into Commerce Manager, or you can integrate a pre-existing product database from a certified eCommerce platform (like Shopify or BigCommerce.)

Tip: Hootsuite has a Shopify integration, so it’s super simple to manage your catalog right from your dashboard!

Let’s walk through each catalog creation option step-by-step.

Option A: Commerce Manager

1. Log into Commerce Manager.

2. Select your catalog and click Add Products.

3. Select Manual.

5. Add a product image, name, description, website link, and price.

5. Add categorization details about the product, like its condition, brand, and tax category. If you have an SKU or unique identifier for your product, add it within the Content ID section.

6. Once you’re done, click Add Product.

Option B: Integrate an Ecommerce Database

1. Go to Commerce Manager.

2. Select your catalog and click Add Products.

3. Select Partner Platform.

4. Select your platform of choice from the list provided.

5. Follow the link to the partner platform website and follow the steps there to connect your account.

Tip: Once your catalog is set up, it’s important to maintain it. Always keep product photos updated and hide unavailable items. If you connect your catalog through a platform like Shopify this will happen automatically.

Step 6: Create Instagram shopping content

Now that you’ve created the bones of our Instagram shop, you’re ready to start creating shoppable Instagram content.

• Posts, Reels, and carousels: Create your content as usual. In the final screen, where you can tag people and add a location, tap More options, then Tag products.
• Stories: Create your story as usual. Tap the sticker icon and select the Shopping sticker.
• Ads: Either boost a Shoppable post that you’ve already created, or build an ad with shopping tags from scratch in Meta Ads Manager. Our guide to Instagram advertising dives into more specifics on how to use Ads Manager tools.

You can also create (and schedule) shoppable Instagram posts within Hootsuite to manage this content alongside all your other social posts.

• From your Hootsuite dashboard, click Create, then Post, then select the relevant Instagram business profile in the Publish to field.
• Create your post as usual. In the right preview screen, click Tag products, click the image, and select the relevant product from your catalog.

6 tips for optimizing your profile for Instagram shopping

1. Curate your products and collections

Rather than making your shop a free-for-all, you can curate your products into categories and collections based on trends, seasonality, or any other theme that makes sense for your business.

Head to Commerce Manager, and under Catalog, click Sets, then Create set. You can choose to manually add products to a set or use filters to automatically group products by type, price, or other attributes. These sets appear as collections in your shop.

You can also customize the layout of your Instagram shop to highlight a specific collection, product, or offer.

In Commerce Manager, click Shops, then Edit Shop. Above the image of your shop, click Preview to open the interactive preview and editing options.

Meta can automatically personalize your shop for each person if you toggle on the Optimize layout switch. If you’d prefer to set things up manually and adjust them to work with specific campaigns or seasonal promotions, you can do that using the options on the left of the screen.

For example, 32 Lakes Coffee Roasters has their shop set up using automatic optimization for each user. Since I’ve purchased locally made clothing through brands I follow on Instagram before, the shop automatically shows me the brand’s T-shirts and sweatshirts before any of the actual coffee. Scrolling down, I get to the collection of Customer favorites – not surprisingly, coffee features more prominently here.

Source: @32lakescoffeeroasters

On the other hand, environmental home essentials brand etee places their collections up top and has the auto-generated Suggested for you category further down the page.

Source: @shopetee

2. Focus on high-quality product images and descriptions

There’s not a lot of space for copy on your Instagram shop homepage, so product images really need to do the heavy lifting.

“Take the time to style and professionally photograph each individual item you’re selling,” says Rengie Wisper, marketing manager at Palmako. “Zoom in and get detailed shots that highlight the textures, colors and unique features of your products. You really want them to pop on that small screen! After improving my own product images, I saw a noticeable boost in engagement and sales.”

But save the static product images for your shop homepage and catalog. In your shoppable content (Instagram Stories, Reels, posts, and carousels), show your products in context rather than in isolation.

“Show someone wearing your bestselling earrings in a lifestyle setting – perhaps a casual coffee date or night out.” says Aaron Whittaker, VP of demand generation & marketing at Thrive Digital Marketing Agency. “Tag the earrings, include a short eye-catching caption (such as “A little sparkle goes a long way – tap to shop your next favorite pair!”), and use relevant hashtags.”

Or, as in this shoppable Instagram ad from LF Jewellery, you could do both. A quick video of someone wearing the necklaces is combined in a carousel with clean product imagery featuring multiple tagged products.

Source: LF Jewellery

Don’t neglect the product descriptions. The product image catches potential buyers’ attention, but the product information copy is critical to build trust and drive conversions.

3. Use Reels to entertain and sell

While nearly half (44%) of Instagram users say they use the app to look at product reviews and recommendations, 86% say they use Instagram because it’s entertaining. In order to build relationships that drive Instagram sales, you need to focus on providing solid entertainment value for your audience.

Entertainment doesn’t have to be comedic – you need to find the tone that best fits with your brand voice. Then look for ways to feature your products in content that provides solid value to your audience, and use product tags to drive taps through to your shop.

One example is to provide insights into how your products are made, as Earth Angel does in this behind-the-scenes Reel with a shopping tag:

See more

4. Use UGC to create brand trust

User-generated content (UGC) refers to any posts or Stories from other Instagram users that feature your brand.

Not only do these posts provide new, real images of your photos in action, but they also boost your credibility. That’s because posts from real users are considered more authentic, and that authenticity translates to higher trust.

“For a fashion client, testing user-generated content versus professional photography revealed a 20% higher conversion with authentic, user-centered posts,” said Kiel Tredrea, president & CMO of RED 27 Creative.

Fortunately, Instagram shops have a built-in way to connect product tags and UGC. When someone tags your brand account in a post, you can tap into the Shopping tools on the Instagram app to request permission to add product tags. The original creator will get a notification and can choose to accept or decline your request.

If they accept, the post can appear on your product page in a section called From the Community.

You can also encourage your followers to tag your products directly in their content, as this functionality is available to anyone unless you limit permissions on product tags. For instance, in this post on my own account, I can tag the jacket that I bought from Simons.

However, I can’t tag my sunglasses because Ray-Ban has turned off the ability for users to tag their products. That said, I could still tag the Ray-Ban account and they could request to tag the product if they choose.

We’ve got a whole post on how to encourage UGC to get you started.

5. Try shoppable collaborative posts

If you don’t want all Instagram users to be able to tag your products, you can choose to limit product tagging to your brand partners (aka influencers). This is a great way to link posts from your creator partners directly to your Instagram shop.

You can also create collaborative Instagram shopping posts. In this case, the post appears on both your brand account and the account of the person you choose to collaborate with. The product tags appear in both versions of the post and therefore reach double the audience.

6. Create anticipation with a launch preview

If you connect your Instagram shop with a shopping partner like Shopify or a merchandise provider like Spring, you can create a product launch event with previews of the items you’ll launch at a specific time. This builds anticipation and excitement about your launch and can create an early influx of orders when the items go live.

The artist behind @loxythemaker used an Instagram launch set up through Shopify to tease the launch time of her new collection of earrings. When they went live, several designs sold out within 24 hours.

Source: @loxythemaker

FAQ

Do I need a Business account to use Instagram Shopping?

Yes, you need to convert your Instagram account to a Business or Creator account to access Instagram Shopping features. This also unlocks analytics and scheduling tools.

How long does it take for my Instagram Shop to get approved?

After setting up your shop in Commerce Manager and submitting it for review, Meta typically takes a few days to approve it, though it can vary depending on your account and catalog details.

Can I use Instagram Shopping if I’m not in the US?

Yes, Instagram Shopping is available in many countries, but if you’re outside the US, purchases will link to your website instead of using Checkout on Instagram, which is US-only.

What’s the easiest way to add products to my Instagram Shop?

Answer: You can manually add products in Commerce Manager, but integrating an eCommerce platform like Shopify or BigCommerce makes it faster and automatically syncs your existing catalog.

How can I make my Instagram Shop more engaging for customers?

Answer: Use high-quality images, curate products into collections, tag products in Reels and Stories, and leverage user-generated content (UGC) to build trust and excitement.

Save time managing your Instagram presence using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can integrate your social networks with your Shopify store, add products to posts, respond to comments with product suggestions, and more. Try it free today.