How to integrate your Facebook business to your new Shopify Store
Having set up your eCommerce shop on Facebook, you might be finding it limiting now. You are ready to scale your inventory or want to better brand your business, and you have decided Shopify is the choice for you.
With the highest market share and an established reputation, Shopify is a good option, as it provides the critical mass of potential customers willing to trust its services. The other positive of Shopify is that you can keep your presence on Facebook by setting it up as a sales channel.
Here are some things to consider when transferring your business.
Set up
Your first step will be to set up your Shopify account. If you want to fully integrate your store with Facebook, you might purchase your Shopify domain name. By purchasing this name, you will simplify your address and make it easier for your customers to find you.
Having completed your initial Shopify set-up, you can go to your Facebook Business Manager account and share the domain name and migrate data. There are three options for this migration. First, you can manually set up your inventory on Shopify, seek assistance from a third party or use the automated migration option. If you want to understand more about setting up this integration, there is help available on Shopify.
Many companies make a living from migrating this data, and it is well worth considering their services when you think about the sensitivity of your client information. However, when it comes to inventory, you might want to take this opportunity to manually upload your products and organise them more effectively using the Shopify tools.
Create an effective Shopify store
The reason to migrate is to use Shopify’s features, from its payment portal to its themes and more. Therefore, when transferring your business, take some time to design it effectively, maximising your customer’s ability to find the product you want them to find.
After uploading your details, you can spend time customising your store with the themes available. Shopify gives you the chance to define your brand and better set yourself apart from your competition. Choosing a design and copy that reflects your business is a relatively specialised activity.
You might be happy to write all your descriptions, choose your photographs, and design the theme of your site. However, if you are making this move to upscale your business, now might be the time to buy professional support.
The most important step in setting up your store is the categorisation of your inventory. We all take for granted when we walk into a brick-and-mortar store that we will find what we want. However, there is much research underpinning the organisation of your local corner shop. The success of the store’s organisation is judged on how well you view your inventory through your customer’s eyes. How will you group things? What menu headings will you create? What tags will you put in each product?
You should also look at setting up notifications. Shopify can inform you when you have an order come through. Also useful is the abandoned cart email. It is possible to schedule the sending of an email after a specific time, following up with the potential customer.
Finally, when setting up your Shopify payment portal, take some time to research the fees you will pay and the taxes you are liable to pay.
Marketing
Once you have created your Shopify store and linked it to Facebook through the social media channels, you have some work to do to migrate your current customers. Although the aim of moving to Shopify was to increase your customer acquisition, you don’t want to start afresh. Consequently, you will want to run a marketing campaign to let everyone know your business has moved.
As you move from Facebook to Shopify as your main resource for managing your shop, the logical place to focus your initial marketing is Facebook Ads. However, if you have permission to email people offers and the like, you might want to compose an email journey that gradually tells the story of your move. You can gently nudge your customers using this email journey to make the switch with you.
Overall
When choosing Shopify and integrating it into your Facebook shop, the key to success is in planning. While your desire to set up a Shopify shop is a symbol of your success, you do not want to lose ground in the move. Make sure you have all the pieces in place so that when you click go on your first day on Shopify, you won’t feel it in your balance sheets.
Photo by Charles Deluvio
