facebook sales channel not syncing all product images

TamaginiLeather
Excursionist
15 0 29

To say I have a hate/hate relationship with the FB/IG sales channel is an understatement.  My products are finally syncing miraculously so something must of been fixed in the code.  But what still doesn't work, when you log into your Facebook Commerce Manager, each product only has one image, despite having multiple images in shopify.  This is a big problem for showcasing products on multiple fronts.

1.  There's only one product shot!  unless you manually add product photos on the FB end there never seems to be more that one image that gets exported from Shopify.  This leads only one image being shown in the IG shop as well.  I could careless about selling on FB but IG is a different story and the same back end means double the problems.

2. Variants.  Variants export from Shopify fine.  But images again are the problem.  The media tab of the product in FB Commerce manager only ever shows the first variant image.  If you go to the variant tab of and click on one, it will display the correct image, but not all the images are loading into media at the same time.  Also some of my variants on FB show -- as a name despite there being a name on the shopify end.  This creates a situation where that particular variant fails FB's checks and  thus cant be displayed for sale.  On the instagram side of things, all Variants are listed, but when you click on one, it doesnt change the photo to show the variant because not all media is being properly exported from Shopify into Facebook in the first place!

3.  Checkout on IG/FB vs it opening up your shopify app.  Let's face it Facebook wants you to check out on their end so they get a % commission of the sale.  But if the products dont correctly show variant photos from about problem, the customer doesn't necessarily know what product goes with what product name because there is no photo.  This is going to make a potential customer NOT buy something because they don't know what is what for variants.  The only solution to this seems to be to change the settings in the Shopify App to have it checkout on shopify.  Fine by me, but you know FB claims there is a greater likelihood of sales if its conducted right in Instagram vs being redirected to an external site.

4.  Still no way to manually push a sync of products from the shopify FB sales channel.  This needs to happen!  We can NOT control when FB decides to sync with shopify, and if we as sellers/makers/artists are doing edits to our products, and saving them there is then inaccurate information in multiple spots.  The biggest issue for this is Price.  If I go and set something on sale in Shopify and click save but the product does not get synced till the next day because I cant manually sync the products in shopify, someone could possibly check out on FB/IG at a higher price if its set to direct checkout with in FB/IG.

It's astonishing that I write this on Black Friday and these what to me as a layman seem like basic things that should of been worked out months ago are not fixed or even features.  I guess thats also why I started using Link in Bio from Later on Instagram as it is much more reliable.  After holiday push is over unless these issues are fixed I'll probably just delete the FB sales channel entirely and just rely on Later's far better connection to Shopify and it's not even an official sales channel!

 

Jeff

www.tamaginileather.com

Replies 10 (10)

Jen_Kidd
Excursionist
28 0 15

Hi Jeff!

OMG- you just wrote everything I am also experiencing/feeling!! Out of 5 solid years of having my Shopify store & FB Page, this holiday season sales hit an all time LOW! I blame FB for 100% of this! As if 2020 hasn’t hit all of us hard enough! Ugh. 
I do not understand WHY in the world they continue the constant updating & changing/deleting, etc. etc. without any notice or warning, seems like it’s a constant thing- opening my Shopify backend to more & more “disconnects”, etc. I mean, I get it- technology has to update, to become better... but sometimes too much too fast is just too much! 

Then we are left to fend for ourselves & figure out WHAT exactly it is they’ve changed next, it’s maddening to say the least! 
I’ve spent thousands of dollars on Shopify & FB helpers, to fix/update dozens of things, only to be back in another ditch trying to claw my way out again. It’s gotten so bad I’ve even considered closing my entire biz down, wondering if it’s even worth it anymore? 
I refuse to give FB even MORE $, on top of the insane amounts I’m paying for “ads”. So this new “Shop” feature makes me cringe, as I know what they’re trying to do... their greedy hands want a piece of the Shopify pie too! Why would it make sense to continue paying our Shopify fees, plus all of the hefty extra App fees, etc. when our customers aren’t even going to our official websites & simply viewing/checking out within FB/IG? 
Do you know if it’s possible to NOT have a “FB SHOP”, or if it would hurt biz in the end? Curious to hear how other biz owners think of this whole mess! 
Best wishes with yours & Happy New Year! 

Jen @ DreamLeggings.com 

revived
Tourist
3 0 8

Found this thread trying to figure out why in the world only one product photo is showing up in the conversion from Shopify to FB, and have to say I agree WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID. It's driving me MAD!!! AHAHHAHRHRHRHRHGHGHGGGGG. 

 

But it helps a little to know I'm not the only one. 

GeraldPaoSharp
Visitor
1 0 5

yes, I am having the same problem here, and also I tried added pictures on my facebook store and because its synced so it will auto change back.

I am new to here so I was wondering if I did anything wrong, but looks like its not only me

 

 

paosharpening.com

artnsus
Visitor
1 0 3

Having the same problem.  Did anyone figure out how to fix it without having to add all the other images manually?

Jen_Kidd
Excursionist
28 0 15

Nope. Not that I’m aware of. I’m in an even BIGGER mess than before, when I last wrote in these comments! Omg. Now over HALF of my products are showing as SOLD OUT on my FB Shop, which they are not! Also, over half of products aren’t even showing any variants/sizes/colors for customers to choose their size of leggings or tops! I’ve had numerous upset customers over this issue, which is just more frustrating. 
so I’m back at the drawing board, looking for hired help to go thru my FB & Shopify backends to see what’s up. Hopefully someone can fix this mess. At my wits end at this point! 

ConsignmentCat
Visitor
1 0 1

Finally discovered a thread of people having the same problem.  I'm thrilled that people can see my products on Facebook and Instagram, but I get multiple questions every day asking to see more photos!  I direct them to  my website, but you know how people are, some will likely not click the extra link.

msachse
Visitor
1 0 2

Has anyone found a solution to this? I'm so annoyed with this! I think it is a problem with the app. So is that a shopify problem or a FB problem? One of them needs to take ownership over this!

Jen_Kidd
Excursionist
28 0 15

OMG I know, right?!! I am sooooo over all of this mess! It is literally KILLING my biz! I have spent sooo much $ hiring random tech helpers via Fiverr & Upwork platforms, and none of them seem to have any solutions. I just formed over another $100 for a dude to fix my pixel, thinking that would fix the probs. Nope. More $ down the tube. It’s something with the data source feed or whatever. It keeps refreshing and re-adding OLD products I’ve deleted off Shopify, months ago! Like whenever that one catalog was added I guess, it’s just stuck in a time warp. I don’t even know. This is BS tho! So fed up with FB having total control of MY business I’ve built from nothing over 6+ years! What are they thinking?? I mean, obviously this is seriously affecting tons of other small biz & shops! Are they trying to run us small biz out, to make room for the BIG companies & brands? I just don’t get it! 

mckma
Visitor
1 0 0

Hi all,

Came across this thread as I was having the same issue. After quite some searching I found a proposed work around that seems to have resolved the issue for me!

https://business.czarto.com/2019/12/11/update-your-shopify-facebook-product-feed-with-missing-attrib...

Hope it works for you too.

Matt

tanalisa
Visitor
3 0 0

In 2023, this problem still exists. Is there a way to solve this problem?

 

thanks