Shoppable reels in India: how to add products to a reel

Instagram's Add products for reels, which makes a reel shoppable, is rolling out in India, but some accounts don't have it yet. Where you have it, tap Add products in the Share sheet before you share, then paste a product URL or search a brand's catalogue and tag up to 30 individual products.

We've laid out the steps below, along with the rules that trip people up: every product has to be in a business's catalogue on Meta, affiliate links have to point to one product, and commission only applies to eligible accounts.

What are shoppable reels on Instagram?

A shoppable reel has products tagged in it. When someone likes what they see, they tap to shop and go straight to the partner's app or mobile website.

Instagram now lets you add products in two ways: tag any product from Meta's commerce catalogue, or paste a direct product URL, affiliate links included. Reels with product tags also show up in Partnership Ads Hub, which makes your work more visible to brands.

Are shoppable reels available in India?

Yes. Add products for reels is rolling out in India, along with the US, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand, and it's on its way to all 22 of Instagram's commerce markets.

Because it's still rolling out, some accounts in India don't have it yet. If the option isn't in your Share sheet, it may simply not have reached your account.

How do I add products to a reel?

Here's the flow we'd follow:

1. Create your reel as usual and go to share it.
2. Before sharing, tap Add products in the Share sheet. Depending on your app, it may read Add product.
3. Paste a product URL to a specific item, affiliate links included, or search a brand's catalogue and tag a product.
4. Add more products if the reel shows more, up to 30.
5. Share the reel.

What are the rules for tagging products?

A few rules decide whether a tag works:

• Up to 30 products per reel.
• Individual items only. Collections can't be tagged.
• Every product must be in a business's existing commerce catalogue on Meta, which keeps details like price and availability up to date.
• Affiliate links work as long as the URL points to a single eligible product in a catalogue.
• For affiliate products, Meta hides the tag if the product doesn't appear in the reel, is out of stock or no longer in the partner's catalogue, or fails its commerce integrity checks.

The catalogue rule covers pasted links too. A link to a store's home page or a collection doesn't qualify; it has to lead to one product that sits in a catalogue on Meta.

Who gets an affiliate commission from shoppable reels?

Only eligible accounts. Add products on its own lets you tag any product from a brand's catalogue without joining a partner programme. Commission comes through affiliate partnerships, and you can use both on the same reel.

To use affiliate partnerships on Instagram, you need to:

• Be 18 or older.
• Have a public professional account.
• Have more than 1,000 followers.
• Be in a supported market, as availability varies.
• Follow Meta's monetisation policies, including the Partner Monetisation Policies.

Affiliate partnerships are rolling out gradually too, so an eligible account may not have them straight away. Look under Professional dashboard, then Monetisation, then Affiliate programmes, or tap Add products before sharing a reel and then Affiliate programmes. The affiliate partner pays the commission, not Meta.

One step we'd never skip: content with an affiliate link should carry the Paid partnership label. You don't need to tag a business partner for it.

What's still coming for shopping on Instagram?

Finding affiliate opportunities with Amazon and Shopee directly inside Instagram is on the way, but we haven't seen it arrive yet. The same goes for Add products in the rest of Instagram's commerce markets and more shopping tools. We wouldn't plan a launch around any of these until they show up in your app.

How would we use shoppable reels?

If you're a creator

• Tag what's in the frame. We'd tag the two or three items people can actually see, not everything you own.
• Copy the link from the product page itself, not the store's home page.
• Add the Paid partnership label whenever a link is an affiliate link, and say in the caption that the items are tagged.
• When people comment ‘link?’ or ‘kitne ka hai?’, we'd point them to the tag in the reel.

Thirty products is the limit, not the target.

If you run a small brand

Creators can only tag products that sit in a business's commerce catalogue on Meta. If yours aren't there yet, we'd sort that first and keep prices and stock current, because that's where a tag's price and availability come from.

Selling on Instagram also needs your professional account to meet Meta's commerce eligibility requirements, including being located in a supported country. Once a few tagged reels are live, we'd compare them in Edits to see which held attention; our Edits insights guide has the steps.

For everyone who still comments ‘link?’, Instoly can reply with a DM carrying the product link, or an affiliate link with its image and code.