by Mikaela Kornowski

 

A few weeks ago, Facebook revealed a new feature that had small businesses buzzing—Facebook Shops. The tool is available to many Facebook users, and allows retailers to sell directly through Facebook and Instagram.

 

“Any business can have a Facebook Page shop, but this feature best serves retail and ecommerce advertisers,” says Facebook. “Businesses selling apparel, accessories including bags and luggage, home furnishings and baby or kids products get a lot of value from a Facebook Page shop.”

 

While exciting for many boutiques, there are a few items to note before jumping to log in and start selling…

 

You’ll need a tax ID

 

Before you even begin posting merchandise to an online shop, you’ll need to provide Facebook with some basic information on your business. Which means if you’re launching a new retail store, you’ll need to be legally established first.

 

The Shop needs to link to a bank account

 

Here’s the biggie. PayPal or other third-party payers aren’t an option. In the age of digital hacking and data thieves, many retailers rightly value protecting their small business and the confidence of their customers. 

 

So, if offering up your bank routing and account numbers, and the name on your account is non-negotiable, Facebook Shops may not be for you. For retailers that are comfortable, not much information is provided in regard to safeguarding your data: “When you provide payout information, we'll need to perform a security check to confirm your identity to keep your payments safe on our platform,” says Facebook.

 

Categories are required

 

To help shoppers find the merchandise they really want as quickly as possible, all Facebook Shops must have their products organized into categories. Makes sense, right?

 

If you’re the business owner, have a think on how you’d like to organize your store on Facebook for the long run. “Mens” or “womens” may not be enough to get the prospective buyer hooked, or give you enough room to expand on the social platform. “There's no limit on how many products you can add,” says Facebook.  

 

However, there is a limit on the number of products you can post for each category: “Each collection will have a name, description, cover media and have between 6-30 products that you choose.” Do some inventory on how many items you have for each of the collections you’d like to create, before putting in the work of uploading.

 

 

When you sell on Facebook Shops, you must adhere to their Commerce Manager regulations. This states that you must ship an order within three business days. If you’re a small business owner, that can get a little tricky with a small team, or during your busy times of the year. If you’re going to take the leap, make sure that you can accommodate for the Commerce requirements.

 

On the flipside, you’ll also need to adhere to Facebook’s returns policy. Each seller can customize their return policy, but the basic rules will still apply. “You must accept returns for new or unused items within at least 30 days of when the order was delivered,” says Facebook. “The default return window that automatically applies to all items is 30 days.”

 

 

That’s right, Facebook takes their own cut of your business. “When you make a sale, we deduct a fee from your payout automatically. We call this a selling fee,” says Facebook. “The selling fee is 5% per shipment, or a flat fee of $0.40 for shipments of $8.00 or less. You keep the rest of your earnings.”

 

While a 5% may seem nominal, this could be a new expense that you’ll need to factor into your product pricing. If you’re already an ecommerce seller, Facebook Shops may be an effective resource for unloading stale products, or snagging new customers with your attractive new line.

 

 

As Facebook Shops unrolls their testing period, new features will eventually become available in the next few months, including tagging products in live videos. 

 

“People have been using live video on our apps to showcase products for years, from shoe stores announcing new sneakers to beauty influencers trying on different lipsticks,” says Facebook. “Now, we’re making it easier to shop for products in real time.”

 

Before setting up shop on Facebook, find quality, in-fashion merchandise at the Fall 2020 OFFPRICE Show in Las Vegas, and online through OFFPRICE365.com. For questions, reach out to Mikaela, Marketing Manager, at 262-754-6906 or email her today.