Instagram, the photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook is making shopping easier for people through its app. It has introduced a new Shop page that will highlight different brands and products that people can purchase.
The Shop page will also provide users with customized suggestions about what to buy, with everything being able to be purchased from within the app.
Image Courtesy: Instagram
The ‘Shop’ tab which will feature different brands and products that people can purchase will be available under the Explore tab. The segment Shops will replace the current tab ‘Activity’ and users can now access this tab via an additional icon in the top right-hand corner.
Instagram is also integrating Facebook Pay into the service. Facebook Pay allows people to insert most credit or debit card information in the app and save it so that sharing money becomes extremely easy.
Both of these features will arrive first in the U.S and are expected to be available in other regions later.
These features together make shopping more seamless on Instagram particularly when it comes to paying. Customers don’t have to leave Instagram or re-enter their payment details frequently to buy something, as this has traditionally posed a huge barrier to buyers.
Regardless of their budget or size, any seller can put their business online and communicate with customers wherever and whenever it ‘s convenient for them.
Instagram charges a transaction fee for Instagram purchases, and it’s set up to eventually benefit from those transactions as shopping gains popularity on the app.
In May this year, Facebook had announced the rollout of its Shop feature on its main platform.
Facebook Shop was also launched with similar features and allowed the businesses to choose the products that they want to feature from their catalog. It also allowed them to customize the look of the cover image that helped them make their brand stand apart.
Instagram has been adding shopping features to its app over time. It allowed in-app purchases in 2019. Following this, they started allowing users to tag the items in their images and video content in 2018, An action that made them more monetizable.
Instagram intends to be a combination of two things – a place where users can find inspiration for fashion and clothes among others and where they can easily buy the things to make these dreams come true.
