Mobile is changing the way we shop, Instagram is partnering with 20 US-based retail brands including Kate spade, Warby Parker, and J.Crew to make Instagram more shoppable and browsable by bringing more product information to the Instagram community.
Partnering brands’ posts will now have more depth, making it easier to learn about, review, and consider the looks in your feed. Instagrammers will be able to open a new detail view, showcasing up to five products with information such as product descriptions, price and a Shop Now link. Tapping on the link will send users directly to that product on the businesses’ website making it easier to buy the product they want.
Starting next week, we’re testing a way for our community to learn more about the items they view within an Instagram post. Most mobile shopping experiences today take people from the shop window right to check out—without giving consumers the opportunity to consider a product and get more information. However, in an internal survey, we learned that the vast majority of purchases take a day or longer, with only 21% of purchases made within a day.** Knowing that Instagrammers are open to discovery on the platform, and that people take time to better understand the products they’re interested in, this test gives our community valuable steps along their shopping journey before they make a purchase.
“This post features our favorite new bag and elements from our new personalization program that, together, make the bag uniquely hers. With this seamless shopping experience launching on Instagram, the possibilities for selling our products are endless.”
Instagram already is a great place for discovery on mobile. While consumer research informed the first step of this test, we expect to learn a lot from the businesses we’re working with in this early test. During this initial phase, the new features will be available to a group of people on iOS devices within the US. As we roll out further, we’ll explore product recommendations, ways products are showcased to shoppers, global expansion and the ability to save content so Instagrammers can take an action later. We want to understand how to deliver the most seamless shopping experience for consumers and businesses on Instagram, and ultimately mobile.
Sources: *eMarketer US Mobile Time and Activities StatPack, July 2016; **Path to Purchase 2016” by Kantar (Facebook-commissioned survey of 3,927 people ages 18+ in the US who recently made a purchase in one of the following categories: automobiles, auto insurance, auto parts, electronics or fashion), Aug 2016. “Recently” is defined as three months for Retail and one year for auto-related purchases.
***Sample participating brands include: Abercrombie & Fitch, BaubleBar, Chubbies, Coach, Hollister, J.Crew, JackThreads, kate spade new york, Levi’s Brand, Lulus, Macy’s, Michael Kors, MVMT Watches, Target, Tory Burch, Warby Parker, and Shopbop.
