Want to make it easier for your customers to shop while chatting with your business? The Manychat Buy Button is here to help! This powerful feature lets you create a seamless checkout experience directly within Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct Messages (DMs). With just a few clicks, customers can go from browsing to buying without ever leaving the conversation.
⚠️ Note: To use the Buy Button, you’ll need to connect Stripe or PayPal to your Manychat account first. Detailed instructions are available in the linked articles to guide you through the setup process.
In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to set up and use the Buy Button effectively. By the end, you’ll be ready to transform your Messenger and Instagram DMs into a user-friendly sales channel, making shopping easier for your audience and boosting your conversions.
- How to create a Buy Button for Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs
- Meta's guidelines and best practices for selling via Messenger and Instagram DMs
- How to check order and revenue analytics
- Limitations and troubleshooting
- FAQ
How to create a Buy Button for Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs
To include a Buy Button in your automation, start by selecting either the Card or Gallery content block within a Messenger or Instagram message node, depending on the channel for which you're designing the automation.
After adding the content block, you’ll have the option to include a button and define the action triggered when the button is clicked.
Among the available options, you’ll find the Buy Button—click on it to select.
Once the Buy Button is added, a settings window will open, allowing you to configure its specifics. Let’s explore each of these settings in detail below:
Button title: This is the text displayed on the Buy Button itself. Keep it clear and actionable to encourage clicks.
Item price: The price of the product or service being sold. The minimum item price is 0.5 USD or the equivalent amount in another currency. The maximum item price is 100 USD or the equivalent amount in another currency. Be sure to set the price accurately to avoid confusion.
Currency: To check the available currencies and select one, go to Settings → Extensions → Payments and review the Currency section.
Item name: The item name is used internally for order tracking and history. While it isn’t visible to clients, it helps you identify and manage purchases easily.
Additional contact data: This setting allows you to request extra information from the subscriber, such as their email, phone number, or shipping address. Simply check the relevant boxes to specify what you want to collect. If you have a Custom User Field for emails, you can use it to pre-fill the email address for a smoother checkout process. This setting is optional but useful for streamlining follow-ups or shipping logistics.
Conditions: An optional feature that enables you to set purchase limitations based on specific criteria. For example, you can restrict availability to certain regions or user groups.
Steps after successful purchase: This setting lets you define what happens once the customer completes their purchase. Setting clear steps ensures a seamless post-purchase experience for your subscribers.
By configuring these settings effectively, you can provide a streamlined and professional buying experience directly through Messenger or Instagram DMs.
Below are the examples of how a message with a Card content block and the Buy Button will appear to users on both desktop and mobile versions:
Facebook Messenger
Instagram Direct Messages
When the user clicks the Buy Button, all the product details and quick action buttons for completing the purchase will be displayed, as shown in the screenshots below.
⚠️ Note: These screenshots demonstrate the scenario where PayPal is connected as the payment method in the Manychat account for processing payments. When using Stripe, contacts can only complete their payments using a credit card.
If the transaction is successfully completed through the Buy Button, the customer will see a confirmation message stating: "Purchase was successful. Order information was sent to your email."
Additionally, they will receive an order confirmation message in either Messenger or Instagram DMs, depending on the platform they used for communication and purchase.
That’s all the key information you need to know about creating a Buy Button for Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs. With these simple steps, you’re ready to offer your customers a smooth and convenient shopping experience directly in their favorite chat platforms.
Meta's guidelines and best practices for selling via Messenger and Instagram DMs
To ensure compliance with Meta’s policies and provide a secure and professional shopping experience, it’s essential to follow these key guidelines:
-
Avoid sharing or requesting sensitive payment information
Never share or request individuals to share payment card details, financial account numbers, or any other sensitive cardholder data within messages. -
Restrictions on external payment links
Do not include links to external websites where payment information is collected unless you have obtained prior permission from Meta. -
Adhere to commerce policies
If you are authorized to sell goods or services through Messenger, ensure you strictly follow the Facebook Commerce Product Merchant Agreement to remain compliant with Meta’s rules. -
Prohibition on digital goods
Instagram DMs and Messenger cannot be used to sell digital goods. Ensure that all sales conducted through these platforms align with permitted product categories.
By adhering to these guidelines, you’ll not only stay compliant with Meta’s policies but also create a secure and trustworthy experience for your customers.
How to check order and revenue analytics
You can track the number of orders and the total revenue generated through the Buy Button directly within your Manychat account. The revenue is calculated and displayed separately for each currency, ensuring clear and accurate reporting regardless of your customers' locations.
To access this information, navigate to Settings > Payments, where you can monitor your sales performance and gain valuable insights into your business's financial success.
This feature helps you stay organized and informed about your revenue streams, making it easier to plan and optimize your sales strategies.
Limitations and troubleshooting
- The Buy Button is only available for Card and Gallery blocks. It cannot be added to any other content block. To avoid confusion, ensure you’re selecting the correct block type and not searching for this feature in the wrong place.
- The Buy Button does not currently support Android/Apple Pay directly in Instagram DMs and Messenger. However, this feature may become available in the future.
- If additional actions linked to the Buy Button aren’t functioning, it usually indicates that they will only activate after a successful payment has been completed.
- When customers are using Stripe for transactions via the Buy Button and are prompted to enter their country before purchasing, they must use a two-letter country code. For example: US for the United States, CA for Canada, or GB for the United Kingdom.
Understanding the Buy Button’s limitations and troubleshooting tips will help you ensure a hassle-free experience for both you and your customers.
FAQ
Where can I find the Terms of Service for payments?
You can find the payment-related Terms of Service in Section 7 of our Terms of Service here.
Why do you use Stripe and not Meta Pay?
Native Meta Pay is currently available only in a limited number of countries, making it less accessible for many businesses. Stripe, on the other hand, offers global availability and a reliable payment processing solution.
Can I connect multiple Manychat accounts to one Stripe or PayPal account?
No, a single Stripe or PayPal account can only be connected to one Manychat account. If you encounter an error when trying to connect your payment method, it’s likely because the same Stripe or PayPal account is already linked to another Manychat account.
If you need to set up payments across multiple Manychat accounts, you’ll need to use a separate Stripe or PayPal account for each one.
Can I create a shopping cart in my automation?
Absolutely! You can create a simple shopping cart in your automation by combining the Data Collection block and Custom User Fields, and the Buy Button.
This setup enables customers to add multiple items to their cart, with the total value automatically calculated at checkout, offering a seamless and user-friendly shopping experience right within Messenger or Instagram DMs.
To create a shopping cart in your automation, start by showcasing the products or services you offer using a Card or Gallery block. Include an image, title, and subtitle for each item, with the subtitle serving as a great spot to mention the price.
This setup allows users to easily browse and review all the available options before making their selections.
After this step, add Data Collection blocks with a Number reply type to your message node and ask users how many of each product they would like to purchase. For instance, we’ve used a selection of beautiful socks and asked this question for each model individually.
The crucial part of this setup is saving the user's response in a Number Custom User Field (CUF). This allows you to use these values later to calculate the total price of all items when configuring the Item Price field of the Buy Button. This ensures accurate pricing and a seamless checkout experience.
The final message node in this example automation includes the Buy Button, completing the shopping process. As you may recall, the Buy Button can only be added to Card or Gallery blocks. In this case, we’ve used a Card block featuring a beautiful image of the sock collection and a title summarizing the user’s purchase. The title can be customized to fit the product or service you’re offering.
Within this Card block, we’ve configured the Buy Button with a custom formula for its item price. This formula uses Custom User Fields (CUFs), where user responses (quantities selected for each sock type) were stored as variables. Here's the written formula:
{{red-classic-ankle-socks}}*15 + {{red-sky-blue-ankle-socks}}*20 +
{{navy-classic-ankle-socks}}*15 + {{navy-and-burgundy-ankle-socks}}*15 +
{{green-classic-ankle-socks}}*15 + {{violet-and-green-ankle-socks}}*15
Each variable represents the CUF where the user's selection for a specific sock type was stored. Since the reply type was set to Number, these values are numeric.
The numbers following the variables are the prices for each pair of socks based on their type. The formula multiplies the quantity of each sock type by its price, and the total cost is calculated by summing up the results for all selected items. In this example, the user sees the total cost displayed when they click the BUY NOW button.
This approach ensures that the final price reflects the user’s choices accurately and provides a seamless checkout experience for your customers.
⚠️ Note: Any additional steps linked to the Buy Button will only be triggered after a successful payment has been completed.
If you're having any issues with the Buy Button, please contact our Support Team.