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Selling through social media and messengers in Ukraine (social commerce)

| Article: 6 min read | Marketing

Social commerce is selling goods where people chat and watch content: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Telegram, Viber. The customer finds a product in a feed, a video or a chat and can ask questions, choose and agree on payment without leaving the app. In Ukraine this is especially common, because people are used to messaging the seller directly.

The article does not recommend any platform. It shows what is known about the audience in 2025-2026, what selling through social media looks like and where the bottlenecks are.

Why it matters: where people spend their time

  • Audience. According to DataReportal (Digital 2026: Ukraine, data as of October 2025), Ukraine has 35.3 million internet users (89.6% of the population) and 23.0 million social media identities (58.5% of the population). Advertising reach: YouTube 23.0 million, TikTok 19.0 million (among 18+), Facebook 14.2 million, Instagram 12.6 million. DataReportal warns that these figures do not correspond to unique people, and Meta changed its methodology, so comparisons with earlier years should be made carefully (DataReportal).
  • Messengers. In the Gradus study "Media Consumption 2025" (survey of 15-17.09.2025, 1,100 residents of cities over 50,000, aged 18-60), 44% of respondents spend over three hours a day in messengers, 91% consume media from a smartphone, 75% get news through messengers, and Instagram, by their data, grew by 6 points, TikTok from 49% to 54% (Komersant Ukrainskyi, 07.11.2025). The sample is urban, so this is not the whole population.
  • Telegram. According to a Rating Group survey (26-28.02.2026, 1,000 respondents, phone interviews), 67% of Ukrainians describe themselves as more or less active Telegram users (Forbes Ukraine, 03.03.2026). The same survey showed that 76% do not support a full block of the messenger and 16% do. This is a politically sensitive topic: do not build your entire business on one channel.
  • Product discovery. According to Deloitte Ukraine ("Consumer Sentiment of Ukrainians in 2025", survey of 28.11-11.12.2025, over 1,000 smartphone owners), 19% name TikTok as their main platform for finding new products, and 34% buy after reading reviews (dev.ua, 18.03.2026). So social media works first of all as a discovery channel, and people may buy elsewhere.

There is no fresh public data on the share of sales that go specifically through Instagram or Telegram in Ukraine.

How people sell: five models

Model

What it looks like

Strength

Weak spot

Profile + Direct

Photos and videos on Instagram, orders in direct messages

Live conversation, zero investment

Manual handling, mistakes, does not scale

Telegram channel and chat

A channel with new arrivals, orders in a chat or through a bot

Direct reach to subscribers, inexpensive

Dependence on one messenger, manual work

Telegram bot or Mini App

A bot takes orders and payment and shows status

Automation

Needs development and support

Content and video (TikTok, Reels, Shorts)

Videos lead to a site or marketplace

New customers without ads

Unstable reach, needs regular content

Move to a website

Social media is the showcase, purchase on the site

Full records, analytics, CRM

Friction: an extra step for the customer

The choice depends on volume. While there are a few orders a day, Direct and chat cope. When there are dozens, manual handling starts to lose orders and waste time.

What is known about the bottlenecks

A Rakuten Viber survey (October 2025, reported by Mezha.ua on 20.10.2025): 24% of Ukrainians have sold something online through marketplaces, social media and groups, and another 19% plan to try; among the difficulties, the most often named were communicating with buyers (18%), payment and delivery (16%) and listing products (14%) (Mezha.ua). The survey was run by a messenger, so the conclusions may be biased, and the results have no separate share for social media.

From this and from practice it follows that the bottlenecks are usually in the same places:

  1. Communication. A reply in Direct an hour later is a lost order. You need templates and a clearly responsible person.
  2. Payment. Prepayment to a private person's card, cash on delivery, or a bot with a payment provider: trust and record keeping depend on this. Telegram's documentation says the messenger does not process payments and takes no fees, and payments for bots are provided by third-party providers whose fees they set themselves. Provider restrictions apply to physical goods, and the page notes that amounts are limited to roughly 1 to 10,000 US dollars equivalent (Telegram Bot Payments, page undated). Whether a specific provider is available in your situation, check separately.
  3. Delivery. Nova Poshta rates are higher from 13.04.2026: up to 2 kg within Ukraine 90 UAH (it was 80), packaging up to 2 kg 15 UAH (Liga.net). NovaPay cash on delivery from 01.06.2026: 1% + 10 UAH when paying with a NovaPay card, 2% + 20 UAH for cash or other cards (DT-KT). Count this in the margin, otherwise a Direct order becomes a loss (unit economics, cash on delivery).
  4. Record keeping. Orders scattered across chats give no metrics: no conversion, no CAC, no repeat purchases. Enter them in one spreadsheet or CRM.
  5. Trust. Reviews, real photos, clear return terms (trust signals, social proof).

Law and taxes

  • The NetFreedom author (23.03.2026) writes that systematic selling for profit counts as entrepreneurship even without a website, including selling on Instagram or Telegram to a personal card; he cites Article 42 of the Commercial Code (NetFreedom). This is the author's interpretation, not an official position: check with an accountant or the State Tax Service.
  • Sole proprietor (FOP) group 3 in 2026: 5% of income (3% with VAT), military levy 1%, unified social contribution (ESV) 1,902.34 UAH a month, limit 10,091,049 UAH a year (monobank). Also see PRRO.
  • Buyers' rights in distance selling apply in a messenger too: Article 13 of the Law on Consumer Protection requires telling the buyer the characteristics, the price including delivery, the payment terms and the procedure for terminating the contract, and the consumer can terminate a distance contract within 14 days (Law No. 1023-XII). Exceptions are possible for some goods.
  • Customer data (names, addresses, phone numbers) in chats is personal data (GDPR).

Meta and availability of features

There is no official confirmation that all features of Instagram and Facebook shops (for example, a built-in catalog or in-app checkout) are available in Ukraine in 2026, so there is nothing to back up relying on them. Check the current list of supported countries in the Meta Business Help Center before building a channel on them.

A step-by-step plan for a small seller

  1. Define the goal. Sales right in social media, or a reason to move to a website. This decides whether you need a website right away.
  2. Choose one or two channels by your audience, not by fashion. See where similar products are already bought.
  3. Set up a single point for order handling: a spreadsheet, CRM or bot.
  4. Write templates: greeting, delivery cost, timing, payment, returns. This shortens response time.
  5. Connect payment and delivery so that they do not depend on manual actions: payment links, shipping through the carrier's personal account.
  6. Set up source tags: UTM for links in the profile, a separate code or the question "how did you hear about us". Otherwise you will not see which channel works (key metrics).
  7. Count the economics of ads: acquisition cost, average order value, unclaimed parcels (CAC, AOV).
  8. Move regular customers into your own base: a website, a mailing list or a channel that belongs to you (retention).
  9. Think about automation when manual handling becomes the bottleneck (AI automation).

Common mistakes

  • Building the whole business on one account or channel: it can be blocked or the rules can change.
  • Not keeping orders in one central record.
  • Not building delivery and cash on delivery fees into the price.
  • Not having clear return terms.
  • Ignoring tax status: systematic selling without registration carries risks (per the NetFreedom article).
  • Comparing social media with marketplaces by reach rather than by cost per order.

FAQ

Can I sell only on Instagram or Telegram without a website? Yes, many start this way. As volume grows, manual handling and dependence on one channel become a problem, so a website or CRM usually appears later.

Do I need a FOP if I sell through social media? According to the NetFreedom article, systematic selling for profit counts as entrepreneurship even without a website. The final answer comes from an accountant or the tax office.

Which social network is best for sales in Ukraine? There is no single answer. According to DataReportal, YouTube and TikTok have the largest advertising reach, and people spend a lot of time in messengers (Gradus). Choose by where your customer is and check it with a small test.

How much commission do social networks take on a sale? Telegram, per its documentation, takes no fee on bot payments: the fee is set by the payment provider. For Instagram and TikTok there is no fresh confirmed data for Ukraine.

Can I accept payment in Telegram? Yes, through a bot with a payment provider, per Telegram's documentation. Check the availability of specific providers for Ukraine separately.

Sources

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