Facebook Shops lets camps sell merch through social media

Facebook just unveiled its newest feature, Facebook Shops. This lets small businesses list products for sale directly on their Facebook and Instagram pages. Now it’s easier than ever for customers to buy your stuff.

COVID-19 has hit small businesses especially hard. This includes summer camps. According to a recent State of Small Business Report conducted by Facebook, about ⅓ of small businesses in America have temporarily ceased operations because of the virus. With so many businesses struggling to stay above water, this new feature will make it easier for them to sell directly to interested buyers. For summer camps, especially the ones that will be closed this season, this feature could drive valuable revenue.  

For summer camps, this means that you can now set up online shops on your Facebook and Instagram pages. It is easier than ever to showcase cool camp gear like t-shirts, caps, shorts, water bottles, and more! While many camps have made the difficult decision to cancel operations for the summer, Facebook Shops offers the opportunity to drive some much-needed revenue through selling merchandise. This move to online sales goes hand in hand with the need to temporarily move some camp programs and communications online. Adjusting to online business management may be difficult, but in the time of the coronavirus, it is necessary. Learn more about how to make the most out of your Instagram page here.

The best part of Facebook Shops is that it is free to create. Visitors to your page can browse your items and even save or share them with friends. And if they have questions about your merchandise, they can message you directly through Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram Direct Messaging. Eventually, Facebook Shops will expand to Instagram Direct Messages, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Once they do this, customers can purchase products through private direct messaging. 

According to an article from Later, Facebook plans to collect a fee from each sale your camp makes through Facebook Shops, but that percentage is not clear yet.