Sell on Facebook Messenger: Ecwid Connects to the Messenger App with 1.3 Billion Users

14 min read

Good news, everyone… you can connect your Ecwid store with Facebook Messenger live chat! Why should you care? Because it’s currently sitting at the #2 spot for installs on the iOS and Android app charts — right behind the reigning champ, Facebook itself.

1.3 billion people already use Facebook Messenger to communicate with friends and brands. You can reach them from your storefront by connecting your own Facebook Messenger live chat right in your Ecwid control panel.

Read on to learn how to grow your e-commerce store with Facebook Messenger and take note of Facebook Messenger marketing strategies you can use.

Meet your new Messenger-powered live chat

In this post:

Why You Should Use Facebook Messenger Live Chat

Facebook Messenger live chat makes a difference by providing exemplary customer service. It helps you stay in touch with your customers, communicate efficiently, and remind shoppers about offers and discounts.

Let’s explore in detail how you can use Facebook Messenger for an e-commerce store.

Messaging creates a personal connection

In our crazy e-comm world, people still like to buy from small businesses, 2-day delivery or not. Why? Because smaller stores offer something unique — quick, personal communication. Meeting and talking to customers where they are creates a personal connection that brings your brand to life.

A store with Facebook Messenger live chat offers opportunities for real conversations that bigger marketplaces and brick-and-mortar stores just can’t or won’t. You get to be their personal shopper in a sense, recommending other items based on their needs, helping them choose the right size or giving them advice on how to use your product.

Dialog with a customer is a base for building long-lasting relationships

People are already using Messenger

The number of Facebook Messenger users is huge — 1.3 billion people use the app each month. Anyone with a Facebook page (which is basically everyone) is already on Messenger, so millions of people are communicating through Messenger every day.

The majority of people surveyed say being able to chat with a business helps them feel more confident about a brand — and, ultimately, spending their hard-earned cash on it. And lots of brands already sell on the Messenger: 20 billion messages are shared between customers and businesses every month!

People love live chats

People love live chats for a number of reasons:

44% of people surveyed said that having the ability to talk to a seller in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important services and online store can offer
56% of surveyed people would rather message than call customer service
51% customers prefer live chat because it allows them to multitask.

Connecting Facebook Messenger to your store allows you to use the app as a live chat which can improve your customer service.

Facebook Messenger live chat is simple to use

There are tons of fancy live chat platforms out there, but if you’re looking for an easy way to talk to your customers without needing a secondary degree in technology, this is the tool for you. The ease of use makes it a breeze to sell on Messenger.

Conversations are saved in Facebook Messenger’s inbox

Imagine if a customer asked you a question in a live chat but you were offline. With Facebook Messenger live chat, the message will pop up once you’re back online so you won’t miss it. Having Facebook Messenger live chat on your platform keeps you in contact with clients no matter when or where they reach out to you — via live chat on your website or in Facebook’s Messenger app itself.

Now let’s find out how to connect your store to the app and how to sell on Facebook Messenger.

How to Connect Facebook Messenger to Your E-commerce Store

Ecwid paid plan users can start to reap the benefits of live chat right away. Here’s how to link Messenger to your e-commerce store:

Go to your Control Panel and open All Sales Channels → Sell with Facebook Messenger.
Click “Connect Facebook page” button.
Choose a page that you use to communicate with customers and click “Save.”
Specify your store’s domain and click “Save”. This step ensures your store’s domain is whitelisted on your Facebook page. For security reasons, the Messenger plugin works only with those domains that you have whitelisted. To change the store’s domain or add other domains go to your Facebook page → Settings → Messenger Platform → Whitelisted Domains.

That’s it! Now you can chat with customers right from your product pages and keep your sales moving!

You can change the color of the “Message Us” button in your Control Panel

Your customers can also click on the Messenger icon on your storefront:

People will recognize a familiar Messenger icon at once

Both you and your customers will see your chat history in Messenger and in their live chat on your website.

You can answer your clients from desktop or mobile

Now that you learnt all the benefits of the messenger for your business, read on to find out how to use Facebook Messenger to sell more e-commerce products.

How to Use Facebook Messenger Live Chat

Facebook Messenger live chat can help you take advantage of instant replies, share your location, and guide your customers to the right products that will ultimately make them happy and encourage positive feedback. To get the most bang for your buck with Facebook Messenger’s live chat, check out the practices below.

Provide real-time customer care

To start selling via Facebook Messenger, you need to understand that real-time customer care can make all the difference for store visitors.

We’ve all been there. You’re browsing an online store and have a question. You don’t understand the sizing. You need more information on warranty, service, installation, care and maintenance, etc. You can’t call because the seller’s in India or there’s no phone number for customer service because it’s a mom-and-pop shop. But, hey! All you have to do is click on Facebook Messenger live chat and voila! A real-time chat and instant customer service…win-win.

facebook messenger live chat Ecwid store

Tell clients about discounts and offers in a chat

If you wonder: “How do I sell a product on chat?”, remember that there are sensitive purchasing situations where your customer would like more discretionary customer service. Think pharmaceutical cosmetics, lingerie, security products, presents, and the like. Live chat lets them feel more comfortable and allows you — the seller — to relate to them on a personal level.

Remember that customers can see how fast you respond to messages from your Facebook Business Page, so you shouldn’t put off checking your Messenger if you can avoid it. It’s better to answer as soon as possible to keep that “Very responsive to messages” badge and keep customers engaging with your live chat.

It’s encouraging for customers to know that they’re likely to receive answers soon

Set up instant replies, greetings, and away messages

To look more professional and stay efficient, take advantage of the following settings:

Create a custom Facebook Messenger greeting
Use “Instant Reply” for situations like letting folks know you’re away

A Messenger greeting is a greeting that people will see the first time they open a conversation with you on Messenger:

You can edit a Messenger greeting as you like

A Facebook Messenger greeting brings your brand and personality to life online. Open your Facebook business page settings, click on the “Messaging” tab, and jump to the “Response Assistant” section. You can write a message up to 160 characters and use the name of your recipient, a Facebook page link, or an address.

Another helpful setting is Instant Reply, an auto-response to the first message someone sends to you:

facebook messenger live chat instant reply

Instant Reply helps show that you care about your customers

To activate Instant Reply, go to “Inbox” at the top of your Facebook page, then jump to “Automated Responses.” You can customize your message to say hello, give more information about your store, or let customers know when to expect a reply.

In the same “Automated Responses” section, you can also turn on an Away Message. People will receive this if they write to you when you’re away and can’t answer immediately:

facebook messenger live chat away message

Away Message notifies customers that you can’t answer right now

To use this feature, you’ll need to set your Facebook page’s messaging status to away. Go to your “Inbox,” and in the left column, set your messaging status to “Away.” Then jump to the “Automated Responses” section and edit your Away Message. It’s best to let customers know exactly how long you’ll be away and when they can expect your response. You can also add personalization: a name of a recipient, a Facebook page link, or an address.

Create saved replies

Customers often ask similar questions about price, size, or the use of a product. To save yourself time answering these types of messages, you can use “Saved Replies.”

facebook messenger live chat saved reply

A merchant created a Saved Reply that helps customers choose their size

To start using this feature, go to Facebook Messenger and open any chat. Click on the icon with three dots in the bottom of the chat window and choose “Create Saved Reply.” Enter a reply title and the message itself. You can add photos or even personalize your messages if you like!

Share locations

Do you offer in-store pickup, sell at street markets, pop-ups, kiosks, etc? Share your location with a customer in seconds to save time texting directions to your shop. Location-sharing makes it easier for customers to find you fast.

Learn more about your customers

Chatting with someone on Facebook Messenger means you can have a look at their Facebook page. It usually contains a lot of useful information on who your customers are — their age, gender, location, interests, life events, and communication style. This makes for a great way to uncover anecdotal insights and communicate to your customers in a more organic way.

Install Facebook Pages Manager app

You can install the Facebook Pages Manager app (iOS, Android) to manage Facebook messages, comments on your posts and Instagram comments in one inbox. The app allows you to see all of your notifications in one place, and you’ll be able to manage your pages and reply to clients without using a computer. This way, you’ll stay in touch with your customers no matter where they leave their questions: in Messenger, on Instagram’s DM, or in comments on your pages.

Start Selling with Facebook Messenger

Now you have your roundup on how to sell on Messenger. The rest is up to you! If you want to provide premium customer service to your store visitors, add Facebook Messenger live chat to your marketing arsenal and watch your e-comm game go wild. Then when you’re done, come back and tell us about your experience in the comments!