Can You Use Tumblr for E-Commerce?

The blogging site Tumblr is uniquely suited for displaying products because the platform emphasizes sharing content over social interaction. This characteristic makes the platform ideal for showcasing products, even more than other social networks like Twitter or Facebook.

Integrating E-commerce

If you use an online shopping service like Shopify, Ecwid, Wazala or BlkDot, you can integrate e-commerce functionality into your Tumblr blog with a widget. Integrated features depend on the Tumblr-compatible widget code available from the online shopping service. For example, Ecwid enables you to generate a product widget, a search widget a category widget and a mini shopping cart widget.

Prerequisites

To integrate a shopping service widget, you must first create an account and a store on the shopping service platform. Enter your products, then arrange them by category. Set product prices, establish your tax and shipping rates, then configure at least one payment method for your shop. Once your account is set up and your store inventory is entered, you are ready to generate the widget code for your Tumblr blog.

Generate Widget

Log in to your online store account, then open your account dashboard. Click the “Get Widget” or similar option to open the Widget page. Select the type of widget to install on your Tumblr page, then use the design and formatting options to customize the widget. Click the “Get Code” or similar option, if required, to display the text box containing the widget code. Some sites auto-generate the widget code as you make your selections. Select all code, then press “Ctrl-C” to copy the code to your clipboard.

Install Widget

Open Tumblr, then click the “Customize” tab in the dashboard for the blog that will host the shopping widget. Click “Edit HTML” to open the blog theme code in an HTML editor. Paste the widget code where you would like for the shopping widget to appear. Click the page name in the Customize menu to edit a page other than the main blog theme. Click “Update Preview,” then click “Save” to save the code changes. Close the Customize menu to return to your blog’s main page. Install a different widget on each page of your blog to provide customers with a variety of ways to purchase your products.