Ecommerce: Connecting and Selling on Instagram

Note: this feature is only available with the Ecommerce hosting plan and higher.

You can highlight and sell your products on Instagram by tagging them in your posts. This will allow customers to tap on products to see pricing and details. Tagging products also creates a direct link for customers to visit allowing them to purchase products through your store. Read more about selling on Instagram here.

Note: you must comply with Instagram policies to use this feature.

Instagram Shopping Overview

This feature provides access to Instagram via Facebook in supported countries. When customers click on the product tag in your post, they will see the following information:

  • Product image
  • Product description
  • Product price
  • A link to purchase on your site

You can tag up to 5 products per image or 20 products per carousel and once you publish 9 shopping posts, Instagram will enable a persistent “Shop” tab on your profile. Customers can view all posts with tags from this tab.

Enable Instagram Shopping

First, make sure that you meet the following requirements:

To connect your store to Instagram:

  1. Connect your store to Facebook and upload products.
  2. In your website store, under “All Sales Channels” click “Other Channels” and select “Instagram.”
  3. Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page (once in your Instagram account you can update your account to a business profile if you haven’t yet done this).

Instagram will review your account and enable this feature if it has been accepted. According to Instagram this can take anywhere from hours to weeks and you will receive a notification from Instagram once this is accepted.

Note: You won’t be able to access this feature until Instagram accepts.

If you open your store and access the Instagram settings section, you may see “Connect to Instagram” still listed. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not linked properly, but you can confirm this by ensuring that first, you see your Instagram account details on your Facebook page and second, you have a business account on Instagram.

Enabling Product Tagging on Instagram

Once you get the notification from Instagram that the account has been accepted, you can enable product tagging by:

  1. Visit your Instagram profile.
  2. There will be a “Get Started” alert at the top of your profile. Click this.

If you don’t see the alert, visit your “Settings.”

  1. Click “Shopping” and “Continue.”
  2. Pick the product catalog that you wish to connect and click “Done.”

Note: if you don’t see the shopping option in your settings, the account is likely still under review. If it has been approved, confirm that you meet all of the requirements listed above.

Tagging Products on Instagram

Once you enable product tagging, you can begin tagging products in your posts. A few notes on tagging:

  • You can tag up to 5 products/image or 20 products/carousel
  • You can tag products in old posts
  • If your products have variations (e.g. size), Instagram will count each variant as a separate item.

To tag products:

  1. Add a photo to post, edit, and add the caption (as you would typically post on Instagram).
  2. Click the product you want to tag.
  3. Enter the name of the product.
  4. Select the relevant product(s).
  5. Click “Done.”

Instagram will review these tags to ensure they comply (this typically takes seconds) and your image will be added to your feed.

Tags under review are marked “Pending” and will be visible as soon as approved and if you delete a product or it runs out of stock, the tag will be removed from all relevant posts. This tag will not reappear automatically when the product is back in stock.