Imagine if there was a way for consumers to purchase everything that they see on their social feed without having to leave the app. Well, Instagram now has a feature called Instagram Shopping which allows businesses to sell their products directly to their followers.
With over 25 million businesses on the platform and more than one billion users monthly, if your small business is looking into new ways to interact with customers, this is one approach you shouldn’t overlook.
The photo-sharing giant has evolved into a one-stop-shop (pun intended) platform where people are able to be inspired, keep up to date with the latest social trends, slide into “DMs”, blog, save images, share images, advertise products and now even purchase products!
Why do businesses use Instagram Shopping?
If you’re a business owner and are thinking “why would I want to sell on Instagram?” or if you’re still on the fence about the benefits of this new feature, have a read about why other businesses have taken the leap:
- It is very easy to setup & monitor
- Businesses of all sizes can use and thrive with this feature
- If you’re a retailer and are looking for another avenue for customer engagement, 60% of people say they discover new products on Instagram
- Insta-shop can be used in combination with paid social ads
- You can form partnerships with influencers & use hashtags with this feature in order to increase your brand awareness
Since launching the shopping feature in 2017, Instagram has turned into the go-to marketplace for people looking to buy products from their favourite brands – for retailers, this is a dream come true. By simply tagging products in images, Instagram can be used by all e-commerce brands to create an “immersive storefront for people to explore your best products with a single tap”.
The interactive shopping feature is not only available in posts but can be used within Insta Stories too. With more than 500 million people using Stories every day, targeting is close to limitless.
How do you setup Insta-Shop?
To use the shopping tool, brands simply need to establish their inventory on Facebook Ads Manager and link it to their Business Instagram. Within two weeks, the shopping on Instagram option should then appear.
As a multichannel strategy, retailers can combine utilising the Instagram shopping feature with paid social ads in order to take full advantage of the social media platform in driving results. 80% of all Instagram users follow at least one business, which means your business probably only needs that push in brand awareness to get the sales.
An Insta-Shop success story
The Natori Company, a New York-based, international women’s fashion brand confirmed that since the release of this feature, they’ve seen an increase in their Instagram traffic by 1,416%. “In just a few short weeks of using the new shopping feature on Instagram, we’ve seen a 100% increase in revenue from the channel” said the brand’s President Ken Natori. “We love how the new shopping features allow us to easily showcase our products”.
To find out more about paid social or about Croud, get in touch.
