How to add the "View Shop" button on Instagram
Instagram provides businesses with a powerful visual storefront feature that lets your audience browse and discover your products directly on the platform. Once your Instagram Shop is live, a “View Shop” button appears on your profile — acting as a dedicated landing page where customers can explore your full product catalog.
Your audience can tap on shoppable posts on your profile and be taken directly to the product on your website to complete the purchase. For a broader look at the full strategy, see our guide on how to sell on Instagram.
What’s Changed in 2026
Before diving in, here’s what’s new with Instagram Shopping:
- Website checkout is now standard: Between June and August 2025, Meta wound down native (in-app) checkout for US merchants. Customers now click through to your website to complete purchases across virtually every market; only narrow legacy US cases still use in-app checkout.
- Domain verification is now required: You must verify your website domain before your shop can be approved.
- Faster approvals: Initial setup review typically takes 24–48 hours, though full shop approval can take up to 4 weeks.
- Supported in roughly 20 countries: Per Meta’s official list, Shops support is limited to about 20 countries and is still unavailable across most of Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and parts of South America.
- Reels dominate reach: Product-tagged Reels now deliver the highest organic reach on Instagram, making them the most effective format for shoppable content.
Step 1: Convert your Instagram account into a Business or Creator account
You can only access Instagram Shopping on a Business or Creator account. Personal accounts are not eligible.
To switch:
- Go to your profile → tap the three lines (≡) → Settings and privacy
- Tap Account type and tools → Switch to professional account
- Choose Business and complete the setup
A business account also lets you add contact info, a website, business address, and opening hours to your profile.
Step 2: Connect to a Facebook Page
Your Instagram business profile must be linked to a Facebook Page. This is required to access Commerce Manager and create your shop.
To connect:
- In Instagram, go to Settings → Account Center
- Tap Accounts and select Connect accounts
- Link to your existing Facebook Page or create a new one
Step 3: Verify your website domain
Domain verification is now mandatory. Without it, Commerce Manager will not approve your shop.
To verify your domain:
- Go to Meta Business Settings → Brand Safety → Domains
- Add your domain and choose a verification method: DNS TXT record or HTML file upload
- Follow the steps to confirm ownership
Step 4: Set up your shop in Meta Commerce Manager
Visit Commerce Manager and follow these steps:
- Click Get Started → Create a shop → Get Started
- Choose your platform: If you use Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce, select it — your catalog will sync automatically. Otherwise select “I don’t use these platforms.”
- Select checkout method: Choose “Checkout on your website” (recommended and available globally). This directs customers to your site to complete the purchase.
- Connect accounts: Select your Facebook Page and Instagram business account
- Select or create a business portfolio
- Connect your product catalog
- Review and accept the Seller Agreement
- Click Publish shop once all setup steps are complete
Step 5: Upload your product catalog
There are two ways to add products to your catalog:
Option 1 — Manual upload (best for small catalogs under 50 products): Add products one by one in Commerce Manager. Enter the product name, description, price, images, and a link to the product page on your website.
Option 2 — Platform integration (recommended for larger inventories): Connect Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Magento to automatically sync pricing, stock levels, and product details in real time. For Shopify, install the Facebook & Instagram Shopify App to import products to your Meta Catalog. See our full walkthrough on how to sell on Instagram with Shopify for a step-by-step Shopify-specific setup.
You can also create collections to organize your catalog and customize the layout of your shop.
Step 6: Submit for Instagram review
Once your shop is set up, submit it for review. You can check the status at any time by going to Settings → Business → Shopping in the Instagram app.
- Initial review: 24–48 hours
- Full shop approval: up to 4 weeks
Instagram may also require you to re-verify your domain if ownership can’t be confirmed automatically.
Step 7: Enable Shopping on your Instagram profile
After approval:
- Go to Settings → Business → Shopping
- Select the product catalog you want to connect
- Tap Done
Once enabled, the “View Shop” button will appear on your Instagram profile, giving visitors a direct path to browse your entire catalog.
Tag products in your posts, Reels, and Stories
With Shopping enabled, you can tag products across all content formats. Our guide to tagging products in videos walks through the exact steps inside the Vizup app.
| Format | Max product tags | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Feed posts | 5 | Permanent, great for evergreen products |
| Reels | 30 | Highest organic reach — prioritize these |
| Stories | 5 | One product sticker per Story, holding up to 5 products — use shopping stickers in your Story widget for flash sales and new arrivals |
Best practices for product tagging in 2026:
- Reels are the top priority: 30–60 second videos showing the product in use, with clear narration, a product tag, and a call to action drive the highest interaction rates. Read our guide on creating Instagram Reels for eCommerce to get started.
- Cap hashtags at 5: As of December 2025, Instagram limits posts and Reels to 5 hashtags — use targeted, semantic keywords rather than generic tags
- Tag precisely: Place product tags directly on the product in the image or video for the best click-through rates
Using the Instagram API for product tagging
If you manage a large catalog or run ads at scale, you can tag products programmatically using the Instagram API with Instagram Login. This lets you automate product tagging on posts and shoppable ads.
Instagram Shopping not available in your country? Here’s what to do
Instagram Shopping is still unavailable in several large markets. Countries currently not supported include:
- Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
- Most of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan)
- Nearly all of Africa — only a small number of markets have any Shops support
- Parts of South America (Bolivia, Paraguay, Venezuela)
- Several Middle Eastern markets
Because the official list is short (~20 countries), assume Shopping is unavailable unless your country appears on Meta’s supported-countries page.
India note: India appears on Meta’s supported list (open beta), but the rollout is uneven — many Indian business accounts still see the “not eligible due to location” error. The feature works for approved accounts, but in-app checkout has never launched in India; customers click through to your website to buy.
Workaround 1: Register a legitimate business entity in an eligible country
The cleanest long-term fix is to operate through a business registered in a supported country. A US LLC is the most popular route because:
- You can form one online in days through services like Stripe Atlas, Firstbase, or Doola — without ever visiting the US
- You get a real US business address, EIN (tax ID), and bank account
- Use those US business details when setting up your Facebook Business Manager and Commerce Manager
- Connect your Instagram account to that US-based business entity and submit for review
This is not a hack — it is forming a real legal entity. You will need to file a basic US tax return annually (typically a simple pass-through), but it unlocks Instagram Shopping, Stripe, and US payment processors simultaneously.
Avoid VPNs: Using a VPN to fake your location during account setup is detectable and can result in permanent account suspension. The LLC route is slower but permanent and safe.
Workaround 2: Link in bio storefront
If registering overseas is not an option yet, replicate the “View Shop” experience using your bio link:
- Tools like Linktree, Taplink, or Later’s link-in-bio let you build a mini product catalog page
- Pin a post or Reel with a caption directing followers to the link in bio
- Use Instagram Stories with a swipe-up/link sticker pointing directly to product pages on your website
This does not give you in-feed product tags but it captures traffic from followers who are already interested.
Workaround 3: Sell through Instagram DMs
Meta has enabled DM-based selling in select unsupported regions. You can:
- Share product links or images directly in conversations
- Use Instagram’s payment request feature (where available via Meta Pay) to complete transactions in chat
- Set up a quick-reply saved response with your product catalog link so you can respond instantly to inquiries
It is more manual than native shopping tags, but it works anywhere Instagram itself is accessible.
Important notes for 2026
- The dedicated Instagram Shop tab inside the app has been replaced by profile-level discovery, but the View Shop button on your profile remains active
- Instagram Checkout (in-app purchasing) has been largely deprecated — only narrow legacy US cases remain, and all other merchants use website checkout
- All products must comply with Instagram’s Commerce Policies
- Digital products are not eligible for Instagram Shopping in most regions (physical products only)
- Instagram Shopping is supported in roughly 20 countries — check the official supported-countries list
For the most up-to-date official instructions, visit Instagram’s Shopping Help Center.
To track how your shoppable content performs, set up Meta Pixel in your Shopify store so you can attribute conversions back to your Instagram posts and ads.
Now that Shopping is enabled on Instagram, start tagging your products across posts, Reels, and Stories to drive higher engagement and conversions. Here are some resources to keep the momentum going: