Social Commerce: Building Shopping Experiences on Facebook and Instagram

Social commerce — the integration of shopping directly into social media platforms — is reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products. In Bangladesh, where Facebook has over 50 million active users and Instagram adoption is growing rapidly, social commerce is not just an additional channel but a primary revenue driver for many businesses. Building effective social commerce requires more than uploading products to a Facebook Shop — it demands technical integration, content strategy, and sophisticated attribution tracking.

Product Catalog Integration

The foundation of social commerce is a synchronized product catalog. Meta's Commerce Manager requires a product catalog feed containing item ID, title, description, availability, price, image URL, and product page link. While manual uploads work for small catalogs, any serious social commerce operation needs automated catalog syncing.

Build a catalog feed pipeline that generates and uploads your product data in Meta's required format (CSV, TSV, or XML) on a scheduled basis. For real-time accuracy, use Meta's Catalog Batch API or Content API for Commerce to push individual product updates as they occur — price changes, stock-outs, or new product additions. The catalog must stay synchronized with your primary e-commerce platform; displaying out-of-stock products or incorrect prices damages trust and violates Meta's commerce policies.

Catalog Quality Optimization

Meta's algorithm prioritizes products with high-quality catalog data. Optimize product titles with relevant keywords that match how users search on Facebook — this differs from traditional SEO optimization. Include brand name, product type, and key differentiating attributes in the first 65 characters. Product images should use clean backgrounds (white preferred), show the product clearly without text overlays, and meet minimum resolution requirements (500x500 pixels, though 1024x1024 is recommended).

Use product sets within your catalog to create curated collections for different audiences. Seasonal collections, price-range groupings, and category-specific sets enable more targeted advertising and shopping experiences. Dynamic product sets that automatically include items matching specified rules (category, price range, availability) reduce manual curation effort.

Facebook and Instagram Shop Setup

Meta Shops provide a native shopping experience within Facebook and Instagram. Customers can browse products, save items, and in supported regions, complete purchases without leaving the app. For Bangladeshi businesses, checkout typically redirects to the merchant's website since Meta's native checkout isn't available in all markets. Ensure your checkout landing page maintains context — the product should be pre-selected in the cart with a seamless transition from the social platform.

Instagram Shopping enables product tagging in feed posts, Stories, and Reels. Each tagged product links to a product detail overlay with pricing and a "View on Website" button. The technical requirement is linking your Instagram business account to your Facebook catalog through Commerce Manager. Approval for Instagram Shopping tags requires an established business with a compliant product catalog and connected website domain.

Live Commerce Implementation

Live commerce — selling products during live video streams — is one of the fastest-growing social commerce formats. In Bangladesh, Facebook Live commerce has become a significant revenue channel for fashion, beauty, and home goods businesses. Technical implementation involves several components.

During a live stream, display featured products in a pinned comment or product carousel. Integration with your order management system should enable real-time order capture from comments or dedicated ordering mechanisms. Post-stream, automated tools should aggregate orders from comments, send confirmation messages, and create shipping manifests. Build or integrate a live commerce management tool that tracks orders placed during each stream, calculates revenue attribution, and manages order fulfillment workflows.

Shoppable Content Strategy

User-generated content (UGC) is the most effective social commerce content. Build systems to collect, curate, and display customer photos and videos featuring your products. Request permission to reuse customer content, tag products in curated UGC posts, and track engagement metrics to identify which customer content drives the most conversions. Influencer partnerships amplify reach — implement unique discount codes or UTM parameters per influencer for accurate attribution.

Conversion Tracking and Attribution

Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel) and Conversions API are essential for tracking the customer journey from social interaction to purchase. The Pixel fires client-side JavaScript events on your website, capturing page views, product views, add-to-cart actions, and purchases. However, browser privacy features and ad blockers reduce Pixel reliability. Conversions API complements the Pixel by sending server-side events directly to Meta, ensuring complete conversion tracking regardless of client-side restrictions.

Implement both Pixel and Conversions API with event deduplication to avoid double-counting. Each event should include a unique event ID that both systems reference, allowing Meta to deduplicate matched events. Track the full commerce event funnel: ViewContent, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, AddPaymentInfo, and Purchase with accurate value and currency parameters.

Attribution Challenges

Social commerce attribution is inherently complex. Customers may discover a product on Instagram, research it on your website, and purchase a week later through a Facebook ad. Multi-touch attribution models distribute conversion credit across these touchpoints. Meta's default uses a 7-day click, 1-day view attribution window, but your analytics should implement independent attribution analysis using UTM parameters and first-party data to validate platform-reported metrics.

At Nexis Limited, we build integrated social commerce solutions that connect your product catalog, order management, and analytics across social platforms. Explore our services or contact us to grow your social commerce revenue.