Instagram now lets Users Shop Without Ever Leaving a Brand’s Story

Instagram has been a creative force in the world of social media since its inception. The company found inspiration from Snapchat with the basic story template, which is essentially a timeline of any given day or event posted by an individual user or brand. They then took the concept a step further by adding in GIFs, polls, emoji sliders and they are now unveiling their new shopping feature to make the story an interactive and effective tool for brands and marketers alike.

Instagram’s latest addition to their stories, in-story shopping, allows select brands to make it possible for users to shop without ever having to leave their stories. These select brands have been given a shopping bag icon that delineates their products and drives users to their specific product’s page or their desired landing page.

Instagram is the perfect platform to build shopping into the story feature for the following reasons:

1. Its Foundation

Instagram began as a platform built on modeling, fashion and beauty products due to its single image based posting system, making it the perfect platform for shopping. By having this focus on beauty culture baked into the DNA of Instagram, shopping icons appearing in stories seems all too natural.  With over 40 billion photos shared to date and 25 million businesses active on the platform, it is easy to see how monetization of content is a no-brainer.

2. Its User Base

The Instagram user base has been growing steadily and is comprised of some very active users. With 800 million monthly active users and 300 million stories ingested and posted by daily active users, the platform has an immense amount of content being created and viewed. The platform boasts a robust 60% of all internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 and is used by almost 50% of all brands in one way or another. Instagram allows for brands to hit target demographics exactly where they ingest content freely, a concept even more lucrative now that shopping icons have been added to stories.

3. A Sense of Urgency

The story itself is an extremely beneficial tool to utilize for online shopping. The internet is a cluttered mess; there are deals everywhere and an immense number of websites to purchase almost any product from. So how does the story benefit the shopping experience for brands? By placing these tags in time-sensitive stories brands are creating a sense of urgency. This sense of urgency is extremely beneficial for a brand’s user journey. It instills a sense of exclusivity and need in the shopper, which in turn leads to higher conversion rates and much better click-through rates.

By building shopping into their stories Instagram is creating yet another way to monetize their already highly lucrative platform. Not only that, but companies are given a chance they have never seen before: the chance to create split-second decisions that naturally are integrated into the social platform in an organic and non-intrusive way. If you would like to learn how your company can better utilize Instagram and any other social media platform, contact us at 2060 Digital to see how our team of social specialists can take your social strategy to the next level.