Creating a Facebook Shop – Part 1

I have been working with The Nasio Trust over the last few months.  They are a fantastic charity based in Abingdon and Kenya.  They run day-care centres in western Kenya providing orphaned children with a daily meal, education, medical care and support. They also offer young people in the UK the opportunity to turn their lives around through positive activities and fundraising, culminating in volunteering on projects in Kenya.

I have been helping The Nasio Trust use Social Media, in particular Twitter to deliver their message and raise their profile.  This week, we looked at setting up a Facebook shop to offer alternative gifts.  By spending £7 on a blanket rather than a let’s be honest, tacky gift that is not used past day 1, you can help a family in Kenya keep warm.

Why a Facebook shop?

The cost of adding e-commerce to the website wasn’t massive but for a charity was difficult to justify.  We selected an app which it is free to add 10 products to the shop. This is sufficient for the charity to get started and different products can be offered at different times.  To offer up to 100 products is $12.50 / month (but they offer discounts for non profits). If the initial 10 products sell well then is it easy to justify the additional cost.

How do you add a Facebook shop?

I wanted a solution that was quick to get started and easy to use – and low cost, so I selected Ecwid.  The major steps were as follows.  (This is not a step by step handout but a general idea):

1. Access the Ecwid app

2. Add the app to Facebook.  You will need to do this as a personal account and then add it to the page

3. Register with Ecwid and put the store id onto the app.

4. On the Ecwid control panel, delete the categories and products that have been included as part of the demo version.

5. Under system settings, set your currency, time zone, tax, etc.

6. Under Catalog, add new products, including price, description and an image. For The Nasio Trust, we have just used products, but you can use categories as well.

7. Link your PayPal account by selecting System Settings > Payment.

8. On your Facebook Page, display the app in the top 4 apps by selecting the down arrow, clicking the pencil in the top right hand corner of the Shop app and swapping it with one of the apps currently in the top row.

You are good to go.  The NasioTrust need to add more products and link their paypal account so in Part 2, I will let you know how they have got on and the analytics available.

I would love to know what you think – are you going to set up a shop?  I’ve added one (with a few products) to my Facebook Page.