iSenseLabs Announces FacebookStore for OpenCart
After weeks of hard work, our team is happy to introduce FacebookStore for OpenCart!
With a few clicks, FacebookStore connects your OpenCart store to Facebook and allows you to sell products on your Facebook Page.
Here are some interesting facts about why Facebook is such a desired channel for businesses who are looking to sell more products:
- 49% of Facebook users like business pages to support the brand.
- 42% of those users like the page to get promotions, coupons and discounts.
- 35% of them want to participate in contests.
- 31% of users like pages to share their personal experiences with their product or service.
(Info source)
In this blog post we will give an overview of the module, detailing every setting and lead you through a process of opening your FacebookStore.
How to Install and Configure Facebook Store
If you don’t have an OpenCart store yet, click here to download the platform and here to see the installation instructions.
Installing and configuring your store in Facebook is done in 3 elementary steps.
After you download the extension from iSenseLabs, install it into your store as you do with every other module.
After that, follow these instructions and see how we create a new Facebook store:
Step #1: Install and Edit Your Module
After you install the extension, go to Extensions > Modules in your OpenCart admin and click Edit.
This is how you access the settings of the FacebookStore module.
Step #2: Configure Your Module and Facebook Page Tab Name
Once you enter the settings, the first thing to do is pick a name for the module of your Facebook store. This will be visible in your Module List in Extensions at the admin panel of OpenCart.
After that, select the Facebook Business Page of your store from the dropdown menu.
Finally, pick a name for the Store Tab in the Facebook Page of your shop.
Step #3: Configure Your Page Tab Position and Product Categories
When you are finished naming your module and page tab, it’s time to set the position of the tab and include the product categories you want to sell in your Facebook store.
The page tab position can be between 1 and 4. This will determine where it will be shown among the other tabs for Timeline, About, Photos, etc.
These are the product categories we have chosen for our FacebookStore example: Desktops, Laptops & Notebooks, and Tablets.
This goes to show that it’s not necessary to include all of the products from your OpenCart store and only choose specific ones.
You’re all done!
Facebook Store in Action
This is how our brand new Facebook shop looks like.
Oddly enough, our store is a bar that sells laptops, but let’s just call that a marketing trick.
We gave the Shop tab a unique name so it stands out from the rest of the tabs. You can also see the three product categories we assigned from the OpenCart admin panel.
Everything is clean, elegant and intuitive.
It’s easy to notice that the layout and design have a lot in common with the default OpenCart store appearance.
The navigation is similar and very easy to use, as is the button that lets you view your shopping cart.
At the top right, you have a Go To Store button that is linked to your OpenCart website.
How Will Customers Checkout of My Facebook Store?
Now, for the moment of truth.
How will customers actually do their shopping from the Facebook store?
Simple. And it also requires just a few straightforward steps. Let’s see how:
Upon viewing any product, you see the standard fields of information that you have in OpenCart. Price, brand, product code, availability, quantity, description, images, and most importantly - the Add to Cart button.
Clicking this button leads us to the next step - we have a product in the shopping cart:
Does the cart look familiar? It’s pretty much the same like you have in your OpenCart store.
You can edit the quantity of the products in the cart or remove the ones you want.
The standard options for coupon code, shipping & tax estimation, and gift certificate are also present.
At the bottom, you have your total and two options to either Continue Shopping or begin the Checkout.
Let’s see how the checkout process looks like:
As you see, the standard OpenCart checkout is integrated into FacebookStore. We will make an example order to see how your customers will checkout and make a couple of important notes.
Fill in your billing details.
Important: Configuring the Shipping Methods
As you see, the only delivery method available is Flat Shipping Rate - $5.00.
Why?
Because this is the only shipping method that our test OpenCart store has enabled.
Facebook Store gets the shipping methods you use in your store and lets users make orders through Facebook with them.
Go to your OpenCart admin panel, Extensions > Shipping and enable whichever shipping methods you want, and they will be enabled in your Facebook store.
Important: Configuring the Payment Methods
Just like shipping, the payment methods available in FacebookStore are determined by what you have enabled in your OpenCart store.
Currently, in our test example, we only have Cash On Delivery enabled. There is no other alternative.
But we intend to change that. Let’s go to our admin panel and enable another payment method to see it live in the Facebook store.
We will choose Bank Transfer. Go to Extensions > Payment and enable it. Edit the options, enable its status and click Save.
So far, so good, right?
Looks like all the data is filled and our billing, delivery and payment details are all set. The only thing left to do is to Confirm Order.
That’s. It.
How Do I Manage Orders?
Now that the order is confirmed, where does it go?
Check back with your OpenCart admin panel.
Go to Sales > Orders.
There it is!
This is how you manage the orders made via your Facebook shop. The same like any other order, just on another platform. The biggest platform there is - Facebook.
By launching your Facebook shop, you can begin engaging users from a much broader market. Businesses have been using Facebook for advertising and promoting their products for a long time. Finally, you can sell directly on the platform.
