The Problem with Selling via Social Media Messaging

[Suhasini]

Taking orders on social media via messaging requires a lot of work, which is fine when you are just starting a business or working on a side hustle. But as your business grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage orders manually, which can lead to overselling. Having an e-commerce website allows you to avoid this by keeping track of your inventory.

Take Julia Rose Boston, a russian number lookup luxury handbag and accessories distributor. Once upon a time, she ran an Instagram account for her store and took orders via DM. This worked well for a few orders per week. But as her business expanded, it became increasingly difficult to keep track of orders and inventory, leading to overselling and unhappy customers.

Julia knew her business had moved beyond the “DM to buy” phase. After testing 14 platforms, she built an e-commerce site using and synced it with her Instagram page to sell products through shopping tags . Not only did this solve her inventory tracking issues, it also increased her sales by 43%! Learn more about this successful migration in our blog post .

How to Sell Online Without a Website
Julia Rose Boston uses stories to direct shoppers to product pages on her website

How is the market?
As for marketplaces, they attract sellers with their large customer base but do nothing for brand awareness. To marketplace shoppers, your products appear to be items from Amazon or Walmart, not from your brand, which can reduce your chances of repeat orders. Additionally, it’s difficult to obtain customer information for future marketing.



Besides the expense, brand visibility, and marketing limitations, selling through a third party means you have little control over how your products are displayed on the platform.