Facebook is the most popular social media platform not only among users but also businesses worldwide. The wide reach provided by the platform is unmatched by any other social media site. Local merchants running their online stores have the best chances to reach their target audience using Facebook.
It is not a hidden fact that users prefer to make online purchases using social media sites much more than their e-commerce store. While platforms like Shopify allow you to set up an online store, you also need Facebook to promote and sell your products. But before getting started, below are some crucial factors you must understand to make the most of Facebook selling.
1. Channels on Facebook
It is of utmost importance to know about the channels to sell on Facebook. The platform owned by Meta offers numerous tools to allow selling on Facebook. Here below are the three most successful channels:
i. Facebook Shops
It is a useful tool for small business owners who want to build an audience using the social media platform. It not only helps merchants gain brand recognition but also boosts their chances of sales. Facebook Shops allows merchants to set up an online store similar to the one based on Shopify.
Facebook Shops can be managed using the Facebook Business page. It allows Facebook users to complete online purchases without having to leave Facebook. They can choose the product, add it to the cart and pay to complete the order on Facebook.
ii. Facebook Marketplace
This is the most popular sales channel offered by Facebook. Facebook Marketplace is not just for merchants but also for users as the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales medium was originally launched in competition with Craigslist. It is like posting classified ads for personal exchanges of products and payments between two users.
While most Facebook users prefer to meet in person to complete the transaction, the platform offers features like on-site checkout and shipping options just like a small-scale Shopify store. In 2019, Facebook discovered in an internal data report that “there is a major B2C opportunity for US retailers” on Facebook Marketplace.
“With commission rates of 5% or a minimum of $0.40 for transactions under $8.00, Facebook currently offers some of the lowest selling fees among marketplaces. As of today, the commission rates do not change based on product category, unlike other major marketplaces,” stated a report published by searchengineland.com.
“On Facebook Marketplace, there are also no listing fees, which means you can upload unlimited inventory, and there are no subscription fees or tiered selling plans for signing up as a retailer,” the report added.
iii. Facebook Groups
Gone are the days when users made Facebook groups talk and share about similar interests. Now, most of the active groups you see on the platform accommodate the users to buy and sell products and services. These groups are commonly used to complete C2C transactions.
Enabling the buy and sell feature on Facebook groups, Facebook provides local product and service suggestions based on geography. Users buying or selling on these groups get interested leads to sell off old items in a garage-sale style.
While it is a useful tool to sell on Facebook, groups should not be your primary channel. The best practice is to use all three channels mentioned above along with a functioning Shopify store. Additionally, Facebook groups can help you increase brand visibility.
2. Steps to Sell on Facebook Shops
Facebook Shops is easy to use but you have to follow seven steps to ensure smooth selling complete within the social media site.
i. Business Page
First, you have to create a Facebook Business page using your Facebook account. The platform keeps it separate from your personal account so that nobody knows who the person running the Facebook Business page is. Only if you share it on your personal profile your association with the business become evident.
Following the creation of the Facebook Business page, you get access to Facebook Store and Marketplace integrations. The platform shows you the commerce policies and the terms under the Facebook Seller Agreement before you proceed with the Business page.
Creating a Facebook Business page is quite easy. Just log in to your Facebook account, go to the Menu button in the top right corner and choose Page from the Create menu. This step is followed by adding a profile photo, cover photo and relevant information related to the business. Just make sure that you fill in the right information in the most impressive way to attract potential buyers on Facebook Shops.
Facebook Shops offers templates to sell online. You can easily change the template of your Business page after filling in the basic information.
ii. Create Shop
On the Facebook Business page, you are now required to create your shop page by clicking on the Next button. This step is much easy and less time taking for Shopify store owners as they can sync products by choosing the “Sync a partner platform” option. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the Shop setup.
For those who are not on Shopify, start a Facebook store using a free trial. The feature doesn’t work with password protection on websites based on any other e-commerce platform.
iii. Checkout Method
At the time of creation, Facebook Shops asks to choose from three options for checkout. The primary method is checkout through Facebook. For Shopify store owners, a convenient way is to use Shop Pay as a payment method to avoid checkout risks.
Facebook checkout method has its own limitations as it stops you from using shipping options offered by Shopify. The Canadian e-commerce platform offers flat shipping rates and carrier-calculated shipping rates to its merchant partners. Also, you can’t include taxes in the final price using Facebook checkout.
Since June 30, 2022, Facebook charges a selling fee of 40 cents on orders less than $8 from Shopify merchants. You also have to pay five percent of the order’s total for orders above $8. So it is not a sustainable method of checkout for Shopify store owners. However, one good part is that Facebook checkout allows Shopify merchants to use discounts and gift cards.
Other two options for checkout include using an e-commerce platform like Shopify or a messaging app like Facebook’s own Messenger or WhatsApp. While choosing Shopify as your preferred checkout partner will ease your efforts, checkout through messaging apps is also safe and have the potential for quick sellouts.
iv. Sales Channel
Now, you need to select a sales channel using the Business Manager account. It means that you can choose the page on which you want to feature your products to sell. You can also create a new business page using the Business Manager account. Here, you can also sync your account with Instagram to sell on the photo-sharing platform as well.
v. Catalog
Facebook Shops also provide catalogs for your products. Just choose the most suitable one and hit the Next button. Your products and services must adhere to the eligibility criteria to use the catalog offered by Facebook.
vi. Shipping And Returns
Your store on Facebook is now almost ready. Just set your shipping and returns using the Facebook Business Manager before you start posting about your products. You should provide clear information on how you handle shipping and returns of orders to ensure a hassle-free shopping experience.
Information like the geographical region you ship to, delivery and handling time, shipping fee or free shipping on certain order amounts and return window should be clearly mentioned on your Facebook Shop. You can also mention a customer service email or WhatsApp number to respond to the queries of customers.
For brand promotion, you can also add a link to your subscription to your email list. This helps you maintain a healthy relationship with the customer even after checkout.
vii. Submission
This is the final step as you have to agree to the Facebook seller agreement before hitting the Finish set up button. You can make customisations even after submissions and manage your catalog as per sales strategy. You can add new products to sell from time to time and sync your Facebook Shop with the Shopify store.
Shopify helps you automate the process of adding new products that you sell on your online store. Facebook allows you to create a collection of products to make them visible to users. You can choose product categories or put any grouping algorithm to make a collection that sells on Facebook.
Other customisations that can be done include: changing button colors, arranging featured collections and offering promotions. You are now good to go. Sync your Facebook Shop with Shopify to access tools that help with listing and promotions. Shopify also creates product collections based on the audience and showcases the best of products. Your sales from Facebook and Instagram will then be visible in the Shopify dashboard as well, helping you analyse sales for growth and development.
3. Listing on Facebook Marketplace
As discussed above, only Facebook Shops will not help you achieve sales targets, you also need to sell products on Facebook Marketplace. It is just like selling from your garage. Facebook Marketplace connects you with casual buyers, who are keen to buy even used items from local buyers. On a regional basis, Facebook Marketplace is even more successful than Amazon and eBay.
Launched as a C2C marketplace, Facebook soon transformed it into a B2C sales tool, helping numerous online stores worldwide. It is also available for C2C transactions so you have a little competition from casual sellers who are selling used items to local buyers. For Shopify store owners, Facebook Marketplace provides an additional platform to boost store visibility. The marketplace claims to serve more than one billion users on a monthly basis.
You have to list your products on Facebook Marketplace to reach a wider audience. It is easy and starts with the Marketplace button you see on the left side menu. Here, you can select Create New Listing and select the ‘Item For Sale’ option. It asks you to provide additional information to complete the listing.
Product Description And Images
Make sure you post a high-quality image of your product and write a description well to engage with the customers. You are also asked to clearly mention the price and condition of the product. Once done with listing you are advised to join local groups on Facebook. It helps you promote the listed products among a wider audience with similar interests.
Facebook Marketplace allows you to review your listing so that changes can be made as per requirement. After the final review, you can publish the listing information to start selling on Facebook Marketplace.
Facebook Marketplace is planning to develop e-commerce tools but until then you need support from platforms like Shopify. You can leverage Facebook audiences despite Marketplace limitations, thanks to Shopify. Originally meant to help buyers and sellers meet to complete transactions, Marketplace now provides a sales channel that allows direct checkout on Facebook. Although this feature is currently available only in the United States, other countries might benefit from it in the near future.
There are some essential factors for you to sell on Facebook Marketplace. First, you need to have a Facebook Shop, instructions of which are clearly mentioned above. You also have to enable Checkout on Facebook on your online store. For Shopify store owners, there are multiple steps that can be completed easily on the admin dashboard. Shopify connects your store with a Facebook Commerce Manager account for easy selling on the platform.
Once connected, you can log in to your Facebook Commerce Manager account and select the Facebook shop you wish to sell from. You will see Settings on the left-hand menu, click on Business Assets to Enable Marketplace. This step will bring all your products to the feed to Facebook users on Marketplace. Initially, it takes 24 hours to reflect. Facebook uses its own algorithm on your product listings to show your products in the feed of interested customers.
Facebook Ads
This is how you set Marketplace listings but there are tools like Facebook ads as well to help you reach more users in a short span of time. It is quite easy as you have to click on Your Listings and select Boost Listing for the product you want to sell more. Facebook will take you to a page that allows you to set a daily budget based on the length of your campaign and the range of your target audience. Before boosting, you can see a preview of your Facebook ad. You can edit the information if required and hit the Promote Now button.
Facebook ads are useful for small-scale online businesses as it helps gain more visibility in a short span of time. You can target an audience on the basis of geography, gender and age. Facebook provides additional tools like Facebook Pixel to help you design appealing Facebook Ads without any technical knowledge. It also shows you the spending data on Facebook Ads to help you maintain a healthy ROI.
4. Buy And Sell Groups
This method is the most popular among casual Facebook users. Facebook allows all groups to enable the feature of buying and selling. However, there are also specific groups for the purpose of buying and selling based on geography. It helps the buyer and seller to meet in person to complete a transaction.
Apart from casual buyers and sellers, there is a huge opportunity for small businesses in these groups. It helps the local brand build a local audience with chances of selling through Facebook. This method doesn’t come with an integrated checkout but merchants can easily persuade interested buyers to visit the Facebook Shop, Marketplace listing or Shopify store to complete a purchase.
How to Start?
First thing first, you have to join the groups consisting of your target audience. It is easy to search local buy and sell groups on Facebook. As mentioned earlier, you would also see suggestions to join these groups when you complete the Marketplace listing. Once you are part of the group, click on the Sell Something option and select the Item for Sale. It will take you to a page where you can fill in all the important information along with image, price and location.
If your product is not listed in the Facebook Marketplace, you can do it here. It helps you reach interested buyers even outside of the group. Do this in multiple groups to increase your chances of selling. After filling in all the details, you can Post and see your product listed for sale in these groups
5. Tips For Sellers
Facebook Marketplace has huge potential for sellers but they should know what not to do when using this tool. It is advisable to not post any personal information as Facebook is not as secure as your Shopify store. There should not be items listed for sale that are illegal or prohibited or violates the terms of service. While posting about your products, please refrain from using offensive or inappropriate language.
Sellers are also advised to keep posts simple to avoid deceptive or misleading thoughts. Remove your listing if your product is sold out and do not sell products that are counterfeit or stolen. Third-party apps provide tools for automation of listings but they are not safe to use.
Facebook Marketplace takes legal action in case of fraud or deceptive selling behaviour. Also, document every sale with the full name and contact information of the buyer. Use secure payment methods like Shop Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Zelle to complete transactions. If you don’t have an online store, try to meet the buyer in person for a safer transaction. Check the identification of the buyer when you meet in person.
Facebook has helped numerous online businesses grow with a wider reach. It is never late to leverage the sales tool offered by the platform. You will not find such a huge user base on any other social network. Facebook is also aware of this fact and is planning to come up with e-commerce tools soon. So start now and grow your business of Facebook.
