How to Add a Buy Now Button on Instagram

Transforming your Instagram feed from a simple photo gallery into a powerful sales channel begins with one simple action: giving customers a way to click and buy. This guide walks you through every step of how to add a Buy Now button on Instagram, covering the official features like Instagram Shopping and effective workarounds for every type of business.

First Things First: You Need to Set Up Instagram Shopping

Before you can add any shoppable tags or direct "Buy Now" buttons, you must have Instagram Shopping enabled. This is the foundational feature that connects your product catalog to your Instagram profile, turning your content into a virtual storefront. Think of it as the digital plumbing that makes social commerce possible.

Step 1: Meet the Eligibility Requirements

Instagram is protective of its user experience, so not every account can immediately start selling. First, you need to confirm your business meets the criteria:

• Have a Professional Account: Your profile must be set to a Business or Creator account. You can switch this in your account settings if you're still using a personal profile.
• Connect to a Facebook Page: Your Instagram Business account must be connected to a Facebook Page. This is non-negotiable, as catalogs and commerce settings are managed through Facebook’s backend.
• Sell Physical Goods: Your business must primarily sell physical products. Certain services can be sold, but the main Shopping feature is built for tangible goods.
• Adhere to Commerce Policies: Your products and business practices must comply with Instagram's Commerce Policies. This means no prohibited items like weapons, animals, or certain healthcare products.
• Be Located in a Supported Market: Instagram Shopping is available in many countries, but not all of them. Check the official list to make sure your region is supported.

Step 2: Create and Connect Your Product Catalog

Your catalog is a digital list of all the products you want to sell. It contains product images, descriptions, prices, and links. You have two main options for creating and connecting your catalog:

1. Using Catalog Manager: You can manually create a catalog within Facebook Commerce Manager. This is a good option if you have a smaller number of products and want to manage everything yourself. You'll upload your own product data, and this will become the single source of truth for both Facebook and Instagram Shops.
2. Connecting an E-commerce Platform: This is the easiest and most common method. If you use a platform like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or similar, you can directly integrate your entire product library. The integration automatically syncs your products, inventory, and pricing with your Facebook catalog, saving you an enormous amount of time and effort. Simply find the Facebook/Instagram integration in your e-commerce platform's app store and follow the setup instructions.

Step 3: Submit Your Account for Review

Once your catalog is connected, it’s time to ask Instagram for approval. Go to your professional dashboard in the Instagram app.

• Navigate to Settings and privacy >, Business tools and controls >, Set up Instagram Shopping.
• Follow the on-screen prompts. Instagram will ask you to select the product catalog you want to connect to your account.
• Submit your account for review.

The review process can take a few days. Once approved, you’ll receive a notification, and you can finalize your shop setup in the “Shopping” section of your settings.

The True "Buy Now" Button: Using Checkout on Instagram

The most direct "Buy Now" experience on Instagram is through a feature called Checkout. When a customer taps a product with Checkout enabled, they can complete their entire purchase - from product selection to payment and shipping - without ever leaving the Instagram app. This seamless process dramatically reduces friction and can significantly increase conversion rates.

However, there's a catch: Checkout on Instagram is currently available only to eligible businesses in the United States. If you’re outside the U.S., you’ll need to use the standard "View on Website" feature or the alternative methods described in the next section.

If you are an eligible U.S. business, you can set up Checkout through Commerce Manager. It requires adding shipping options, return policies, and payout information. When a customer makes a purchase, the order appears directly in your Commerce Manager for you to fulfill.

3 Powerful Alternatives to the "Buy Now" Button

If you're not eligible for Checkout or want more ways for customers to shop, don't worry. There are several highly effective strategies to send customers directly to your products with a clear call to action.

1. Use Standard Product Tags (The "View on Website" Flow)

This is the most popular form of Instagram Shopping and is available in all supported markets. Instead of a "Buy Now" button, users see product tags directly on your posts, Stories, and Reels. When they tap a tag, a small pop-up shows the product name and price. Tapping again takes them to a full-screen Product Detail Page (PDP) within the app. From there, a prominent "View on Website" button sends them directly to that product's page on your own e-commerce site to complete the purchase.

How to use Product Tags effectively:

• In Feed Posts: You can tag up to five products per single-image post or up to 20 products in a multi-image carousel post. This is perfect for styling shots or showcasing a collection.
• In Reels: Tag a product in your Reel to make your short-form video instantly shoppable. This is perfect for tutorials, behind-the-scenes content, or product demos.
• In Stories: Use the "Product" sticker to tag one item per Story. This is great for limited-time offers or highlighting a single best-seller. A viewer can tap the sticker and head directly to the PDP.

2. Add an Action Button to Your Profile

While not a traditional product "Buy Now" button, profile action buttons create a similar direct CTA for service-based businesses. These buttons appear right under your bio, giving customers a quick way to engage without searching for a link.

To add one, go to Edit Profile >, Action buttons. You can choose from options like:

• Order Food: Connects to services like Grubhub, DoorDash, or Uber Eats.
• Book Now: Integrates with scheduling platforms like Acuity, GlossGenius, or Vagaro.
• Reserve: Works with platforms like OpenTable or Yelp Reservations.

This method turns your profile into a direct booking or ordering tool, acting as a powerful CTA for immediate action.

3. Leverage Your "Link in Bio"

Your bio link is precious real estate. Instead of just linking to your homepage, you can turn it into a dedicated mini-shop with tools like Linktree, Beacons, or Koji. These services let you create a simple mobile landing page with multiple buttons, effectively turning one link into many.

With a link-in-bio tool, you can create direct "Buy Now" or "Shop Now" links for your featured products, latest collection, or bestsellers. In your post captions, simply direct followers with a CTA like "Shop our new arrivals via the link in our bio!" When they click your bio link, they’re presented with an organized, easy-to-navigate page of your most important products, making the path to purchase straightforward and fast.

Best Practices for Driving Sales with Instagram's Shopping Tools

Just having the buttons isn't enough. You need a content strategy built around encouraging browsers to become buyers. Here’s how to do it.

Create Content That Feels Authentic, Not Salesy

People come to Instagram for connection and discovery, not hard sales pitches. Successful brands integrate their shoppable tags naturally into their content.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Instead of a static product photo, create a Reel showing your product in action. If you sell a skillet, show someone cooking a delicious meal with it. If you sell a dress, show a real person wearing it out on the town.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Reshare photos and videos from happy customers using your products. Tag the products they're featuring. This builds social proof and shows your products in a relatable, real-world context.
• Lifestyle Photography: Create images that sell a feeling or an outcome, not just a product. If you sell home decor, stage your products in a beautifully decorated room that inspires your followers.

Use Clear and Compelling Calls to Action (CTAs)

Even though the product tags are visible, you still need to guide your audience. Tell them exactly what to do.

• In Captions: Use simple, direct language like "Tap the shopping bag icon to shop this look," or "New arrivals are here! Tap the link in our bio to grab yours."
• On-Screen Text in Reels & Stories: Overlay text on your videos that says "Tap to Shop" or points an arrow to the product tag. Don't assume viewers will know to look for it.

Advertise Your Shoppable Content

Running ads is one of the fastest ways to get your shoppable products in front of potential customers who don’t already follow you. You can promote existing posts that have product tags, turning your best-performing organic content into a powerful ad that drives direct sales. Use Instagram’s detailed targeting options to reach audiences based on interests, demographics, and lookalike modeling of your existing customers.

Final Thoughts

Adding a "Buy Now" button on Instagram is about creating a streamlined path from discovery to purchase. By setting up Instagram Shopping and using every available tool - from official Checkout and product tags to link-in-bio pages and Story stickers - you can effectively transform your profile into a thriving sales engine that works for you 24/7.

Turning compelling photos and videos into shoppable content requires a solid plan. As you create posts, Reels, and Stories designed to sell, staying organized becomes more important than ever. At Postbase, we built our visual calendar to help you see your entire social commerce strategy laid out in one place. You can schedule your shoppable content across all platforms ahead of time, ensuring a consistent and effective rollout for your campaigns, so all you have to focus on is creating great content and fulfilling orders. To see how simple your social media management can be, check out Postbase.