Instagram continues to expand its shopping features on the platform. The Discover feed currently features a Shop tab with personalized product recommendations. Thus, the image-rich app is becoming more and more exciting for e-commerce! We have summarized for you what other options are available.
This is why Instagram and online shopping go so well together
A full 87% of Instagram users say they are regularly encouraged to buy a product – a good prerequisite for the further transformation into a shopping platform. The characteristics of the target group, user-generated content and proximity to current trends are further reasons why this concept could prove successful in the long term.
Additionally, with these updates, the platform allows companies of all sizes to present themselves to a wider audience. The new shopping tools make it easier to put together your own collections and offer products for purchase intuitively.
The shopping functions on Instagram at a glance
In addition to the newest feature “Shop”, we now briefly present which other shopping options are available on Instagram.
Instagram Shop
The Instagram store is already accessible via its own tab in the navigation bar on the company profile. “Shop” integrates the familiar view and functions of an online store directly on your own profile. In the future, users will no longer have to leave the platform with “Checkout” to complete the purchase.
Currently, there are isolated tests in which the store icon is integrated in the lower navigation instead of the heart icon, which shows the activities. The store function can already be accessed via the Discover tab. Here, individual product recommendations tailored to the user are highlighted.
These are created based on the respective accounts that a user follows and are also based on the general target group of the company profile. Merchants can tag Instagram posts with products to appear there for this purpose. Also in the Discover feed, in addition to the tab for IGTV, there is also a section for “Shop” where personalized suggestions appear.
Shopping Ads
Shopping Ads are advertisements that are displayed in the user’s feed or within the Discover feed. The advantages here are that the ads can be broadcast to specific target groups. The Explore feed is therefore another way in which users can get in touch with the ad. The check-out function is also integrated here.
Shopping Tags
Shopping tags include markers of products featured in the post. They contain information such as the product name and the associated price. Up to five products can currently be marked in one image. This function enables interested users to be forwarded directly to the product page in the online store.
An extension of the shopping tags was tested only recently and will soon be available in Germany. These are additional shopping tags that are placed in the form of call-to-action buttons in the captions of the posts. In this way, users will be able to access the product page even more intuitively via a link. While the integration of shopping tags in Instagram Stories is already possible, the use in livestreams should be possible as well.
Instagram announces these features for the future
There has been speculation for quite some time about if and when the popular platform will integrate its own payment system. In view of the expansion of shopping functions and the goal of being considered a shopping destination, the implementation is a logical conclusion. Payment is therefore to be simplified FacebookPay, which can be used via Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. In addition, Instagram already announced that it will incorporate its own Shop tab into the app’s main navigation later this year.
Author: Sylvia Muschalski
