Integrating your Shopify store with Instagram Shopping transforms your social media presence into a direct revenue channel. This link allows you to tag products directly within your posts and stories, creating a seamless path from discovery to purchase. Enabling this feature removes friction, making it easier for your audience to shop the items they see in your content. This systematic process connects your product inventory to the Meta ecosystem, ensuring your store is ready to capture sales directly from the Instagram feed.
Meeting the Requirements for Instagram Shopping
Before beginning the technical setup, your business must meet several prerequisites established by Meta. Your Instagram account must be converted into a Professional Account (Business or Creator Profile) to unlock commerce features. You must comply with Meta’s Merchant Agreement and Commerce Policies, which mandate the sale of physical goods; services and digital products are generally ineligible.
Your business must operate in a supported market where Instagram Shopping is available. You must also maintain an active website domain where you conduct sales, and this domain must be verified within your Meta Business Manager. Meeting these criteria ensures your account is eligible to connect Shopify product data to the Instagram platform.
Linking Shopify to Facebook and Setting Up the Catalog
The connection between your Shopify store and Instagram is established using the official “Facebook & Instagram by Meta” sales channel app. Installing this free app creates a link between your product inventory and the Meta Commerce Manager. Start by navigating to the Sales Channels section in your Shopify dashboard and adding the app.
Once installed, the app prompts you to connect to your existing Facebook account. This account must have administrative access to the associated Facebook Business Page and Business Manager. This setup grants Meta permissions to manage your business assets and sync your store’s data. The connection automatically initiates the creation of a Product Catalog within the Meta Commerce Manager, which serves as the database for your Instagram Shop.
The Shopify sales channel continuously synchronizes all eligible product information, including images, descriptions, pricing, and inventory levels, into this catalog. This automation ensures that updates made in your Shopify admin, such as price changes, are automatically reflected in your Instagram Shop. Ensure all products intended for Instagram are marked as available for the Facebook & Instagram sales channel in your Shopify product settings. The catalog acts as the central source of truth, allowing Instagram to display accurate product details when a customer taps a tag.
Submitting Your Account for Review
After linking your Shopify catalog and populating the Meta Commerce Manager, you must formally submit your account for review. This allows Meta to verify that your business and product offerings comply with their Commerce Policies. You can initiate this process directly from the Instagram app by going to Settings, then Business, and selecting Shopping.
The review process typically takes a few days to a couple of weeks. During this time, Meta checks for compliance indicators, such as selling physical products and having a verified domain. You can check the status of your application within the Shopping settings on your Instagram profile. Upon successful review, you will receive an in-app notification confirming approval to use the Shopping features.
Activating the Instagram Shopping Feature
Receiving approval signals that you can finalize the connection and activate the shoppable features on your profile. This manual activation step is performed within the Instagram app, separate from the Shopify setup. Open the Instagram app and navigate to your profile’s settings menu, selecting Business and then Shopping.
Within the Shopping submenu, you will be prompted to choose the specific Product Catalog to link to your profile. Select the catalog automatically created and populated by your Shopify sales channel. Completing this final step connects the verified product data to your account, enabling the product tagging functionality and causing the “View Shop” button to appear on your profile.
Tagging Products on Instagram
With the Shopping feature fully activated, you can turn your visual content into direct shopping opportunities by tagging products. This process is integrated into the standard content creation workflow for new and existing posts. When creating a new post, after selecting the image and adding a caption, you will see the option to “Tag Products.”
Tapping the image allows you to place a tag directly onto the product, opening a search box to find the item from your synced Shopify catalog. You can tag up to five products in a single image or video post, or up to 20 products within a carousel post. For Instagram Stories, use the dedicated Product Sticker. The resulting tag or sticker displays the product name and price, and a single tap takes the customer to the product page to initiate the purchase on your Shopify store.
Tips for Maximizing Sales
To maximize sales, focus on maintaining a cohesive presence and consistent tagging. Apply product tags to all relevant posts to normalize the shopping experience for your audience. Also, utilize all content formats, such as the Product Sticker in Stories and tagging items in Reels, which often have high visibility.
Optimizing product descriptions and images within your Shopify admin is necessary, as this is the source data for your Instagram Shop. High-quality, clear product photography is important in Instagram’s visual environment. If you encounter issues like products being rejected or disappearing, this often indicates a policy violation or a temporary catalog synchronization delay. Review the product’s compliance in Meta Commerce Manager or reinstall the Shopify sales channel to force a fresh sync.