Instagram Shopping offers you an additional free channel to showcase your takeaway products. Guests can order straight from your Instagram photos. One simple click leads them immediately to the Formitable takeaway shop on your website.

We show you step by step how you can leverage this useful feature.

This guide was written with the help of Alex Vrees from creative agency Baldadig

Synchronize products with the Instagram Shopping app

We create a catalog URL for your restaurant where we store all relevant information, links, and photos for your products.

In Formitable, go to your Takeaway products and click on the Products on Instagram in the top right.
If you have not installed the Instagram Shopping app in Formitable yet, you will be asked to do so first.
Select which types of product you want to sell: Takeaway, tickets, or gift vouchers.
Click on the Copy button at the bottom to copy the link to your catalog. You will need this one later.
Close the window and continue with the steps for Instagram Shopping underneath.

📌 Add photos and product descriptions in Formitable. Only products with photos and descriptions can be offered on Instagram. Make sure you add these for all your products to inform your guests what they are buying.

📌 The product price can’t be €0. The base price of your products can’t be zero. If you offer a takeaway product with a base price of zero with several paid Product Options, this product will not be accepted by Instagram.

Step-by-step guide Instagram Shopping

Selling products through Instagram? This is done via Facebook! Instagram is part of Facebook and in order to sell your products on Instagram, you need to add them to your Facebook account.

Go to Facebook Business and create a business account there (in case you do not have one yet).
You need to link your Facebook Page, Instagram account, and Ad account here. If you have any problems with this, please contact the support team of Facebook and their help center.

After you have done this, go to http://www.facebook.com/products. You will be directed to the Commerce Manager.
Click on 'Add catalog'.
Select 'Ecommerce' and click 'Next'.

Select 'Upload Product Info', give your catalog a name, fill in your restaurant's website and click on 'Create'.

On the next screen, click on 'View catalog'. You will be directed to the Catalog Manager.
Select 'Add items' at the suggestion 'Add Your Items in Bulk'.

Select 'Use Bulk Upload' on the next screen and click on 'Next'.

Choose 'Scheduled feed' as Upload Option and click 'Next'.

Paste the catalog URL that you copied earlier from Formitable. Proceed with ‘Next’.

Select that your products should be updated hourly and enable 'Add automatic updates'. Click 'Next'.

Give your product feed a name. E.g "Formitable products".
Select 'EUR - Euro' as Default Currency (or whatever currency you are working within Formitable). Click 'Upload'.

The products will now be processed. This might take a few minutes. ⏳ If nothing has happened after 10 minutes, please reload the page.

Once this is done, you will see how many products have been imported. If there are problems with your products, you can click on 'View Report' to see why they are rejected.

If you click on Catalog > Items you should be able to see your Formitable products including their pictures in your Facebook catalog. If this is not the case, try to reload the page.

📌 Selling alcohol is not allowed. It is not possible to offer alcoholic drinks on Facebook or Instagram. In case you offer wine or beer in your Formitable takeaway shop, remove these from the Facebook catalog. Otherwise, your catalog will not be approved by Facebook.

Create a Facebook Commerce account to link your catalog to Facebook and Instagram Shopping. In the Catalog Manager > Shops select 'Go to Shops'.

On the upcoming screen, choose 'Next' and then 'Checkout on Another Website'. This will ensure that transactions will be handled on your website through Formitable.

At 'Choose Sales channels' select the Facebook page & Instagram account of your restaurant. Click on 'Next'.
You will be asked to verify your business email address. Enter your business email address and click on 'Submit'.
Choose the product catalog that you added just now. Click on 'Next'.

Check your settings and click 'Finish Setup'.
⏳ Your product catalog and show will now be verified by Facebook. This takes 1 - 2 business days. You will be informed by mail once this is done.

😴 ... hang in there ... we are really almost there!

Once your products are verified by Facebook, open Instagram on your phone. Go to your profile and to Settings.

Select Business in the menu and then Shopping.
You will now see your Facebook Commerce account with the attached product catalog.

🎉 Congratulations! From now on, you can tag your products in your Instagram posts and stories to boost your takeaway.

💡 Advertising? You can also promote the Instagram posts that contain tagged products. A convenient way to showcase your product to an even wider audience.

⭐ Do you already have experience selling takeaway products through Instagram? We are looking for success stories to inspire other business owners! Send us a message in the chat or by mail and we'll get in touch with you!

📷 We'd love to see what you're selling... Please add #teamformitable to your posts!

⚠️ My account did not get approved for Instagram shopping! Now what?

Sometimes this happens by accident. Click on the 'ask for verification again' link in the mail that you received. It usually works the second time around. 😊

⚠️ ‘Listings may not promote the buying or selling of animals’

🌱 Facebook wants to prevent animal products from being sold on its platform. Some of your takeaway items might get rejected. Find the full list of Facebook’s Commerce policies here.

You can try to get a rejected product approved by clicking ‘Request Review’.

Who to contact for support

Unfortunately, we as Formitable can’t look into your Instagram account, Facebook Business Manager, or influence the approval Instagram’s approval processes for shops or products. In those cases, it’s easier to get in touch with the team of Instagram or Facebook.

For help with your products in Formitable and getting the link to your data feed, contact us. 👋
For issues in your Instagram or Facebook account, visit Instagram's Help Center or the Facebook Business Manager Help Center.

What's next?

Want to boost your Instagram? Find 5 tips that actually work on our blog!
Add options, extras, and supplements to your takeaway to increase the average spending and offer your guests to customize the order to their liking.
Do not forget to promote your takeaway also on other channels! Use for example our 7 tips to write effective e-mail campaigns that sell.

Share direct links to your takeaway products in your newsletter and other social media channels.