Create a Product Launch on Instagram
Updated: Mar 1, 2021
For businesses using Checkout on Instagram, you can use Commerce Manager to set up a Product Launch on Instagram by following the steps below.
Product Launches encourage shoppers to buy your products as soon as they become available. For businesses, this means that Product Launches should be set up as far in advance as possible. When your Product Launch is set up, you can start tagging your product(s) to generate awareness for the upcoming launch. When people interact with your product tags, they’ll be able to learn more about your product(s) and set reminders to purchase.
Before you begin
Make sure you're an admin of the Instagram account you're setting up the product launch for.
Before adding launch products to your Catalog, make sure the default visibility for products in your shop is set to “Products added to shop and tagged on Instagram”. This ensures that you control what products are visible in your shop and avoid making products available prior to the desired launch time. This setting is found in the Shops menu in Commerce Manager.
To set up a Product Launch, your product(s) must be added to your Catalog.
Create a Product Launch on Instagram To set up a product launch on Instagram:
Go to Commerce Manager.
Click Product Launches under the Promotions tab.
Click Create Product Launch.
Appearance: You have the option to create a Product Launch for a collection (2-30 products) or a single product. If launching a collection, you will be asked to provide a customer-facing name and description (optional) for the launch, and to upload a cover image for the launch. This name, description, and cover image will be used if you add this Product Launch collection to your shop storefront.
Details: Enter a launch date and time for your product(s), and select an end time for the Instagram exclusive period. You will be asked to certify that your launch inventory will be available for sale only on Instagram for a period of at least one hour. Note: Product Launches encourage shoppers to make purchases right when your products become available. To help you manage inventory, Product Launches are required to be Instagram exclusive for a period of at least one hour. This is required so that you don’t oversell, which is a risk if you sell through multiple channels, including your own website, because inventory counts will not sync in real time. You’ll need to make sure your launch inventory isn’t available anywhere but Instagram during the exclusivity period.
Products: Select which products to include in your launch.
Settings: With Product Launches, you have the option to specify custom return windows by product, down to 0 days
Inventory: Check inventory counts for your launch product(s); it’s critical that inventory quantities be accurate before your launch date and time. Note: During the period when your product(s) will be sold exclusively on Instagram, any inventory updates from 3rd party platforms will be blocked. This means that updating inventory on your own website or another platform (e.g. Shopify) will not affect available inventory on Instagram. It is therefore very important to ensure that the correct number of inventory units is set ahead of the Product Launch date and time—after launch time, there will be no way to update inventory quantities until the exclusive period has expired. This is to ensure that inventory is tracked accurately during periods of high shopper demand.
Review: Review details for your Product Launch and click “Confirm Details” to finish setting up your launch.
Publish: To publish, your collection or product(s) must be added to your shop on Instagram, or tagged in a post, story, IGTV video, or Live broadcast. You also have the option to give creators permission to tag your product(s) ahead of the launch.
You’ve now set up a Product Launch. To ensure you can receive and fulfill orders as quickly as possible, your customers will not have a 30-minute cancellation window when you use Product Launches.
You can view and edit all scheduled Product Launches from the Product Launches tab in Commerce Manager. If something comes up and you’d like to cancel your Product Launch, make sure to unpublish on Instagram or remove the products from your product catalog. If you don’t remove your products, the products may become viewable as available for purchase.
For more information on product launches, click here.