Have you been scrolling through your Insta feed over the past week and seen a new type of post in the mix? It most probably looked a little something like this…
Well, that’s because Instagram have launched perhaps one of the most exciting platform updates yet; Instagram Shopping! Essentially, this enables businesses with an online store the opportunity to bring their products to the forefront of consumer consideration in a way that is easy to digest for the buyer.
Launched for testing in the US in 2016, and now rolled out to retailers in Australia, the update allows businesses to tag products within their feed photos, making it super easy for a customer to click through to make a purchase. So, what does this mean for you and your business? We break it down!
01 How can businesses use this function?
Businesses with an online store can tag up to five products within an image, providing customers with the name and price of each item. Each tagged product then can link to your online store – giving you the power to directly link an Instagram shopper straight to your website with one simple click.
Unfortunately, due to Instagram’s shopping terms and conditions, items like alcohol or subscription based products still can’t use this platform update, due to the user-ship of the platform itself.
02 What does this mean for your customers?
It really is easier than ever before to get viewers and customers from Instagram to your website. Consumers can now straight away make informed decisions about your products and pricing before even heading to your website, which essentially means that those who ARE coming to your online store are far more likely to convert (due to the product research they’ve already conducted via Instagram).
03 What does this mean for your business?
With this update, shopping from Instagram has really become seamless, something that’s been missing to date. The launch of Instagram Shopping will massively help to reduce search times on your e-commerce store, and drastically reduce the path to purchase online. It also means that brands are in a better position than ever before to access meaningful conversion data from Instagram. This is big – as it means that honing your strategy for Instagram now is as transparent as any other social media strategy – it can solely rely on the data and data alone.
04 What are the challenges?
Whilst this update does seem to be a cure-all for e-commerce conversion from the platform, it does increase the pressure for brands and businesses to stay ahead of the game in terms of their content creation. For a user to want to click through from Instagram, the content that your business is putting out there has to be engaging enough for them to WANT to see more. It also means that, more than ever before, your website has to be mobile-optimised to ensure that the whole shopping process is easy from start to finish.
So, does this update excite you as much as it excites us? If so, contact us for help getting your brand set up on Instagram Shopping!