For a long time now, Instagram been a place where people flock to for their fashion inspiration. However, it hasn’t always been easy to buy the looks you see.
On Monday, the company announced new e-commerce tools, including the ability to shop items via Stories and the Explore page.
The testing of the shopping tool has been on since June, but it’ll now be officially starting Monday. Brands can add one product tag sticker per Story, and users can tap it to see more information, such as price. On the Explore page — a hub for content recommended for you — a new shopping channel will display tagged shopping posts from brands you follow or may be interested in.
“If you want to shop on Instagram, it’s a lot of work,” said Vishal Shah, product management director at Instagram. “You have to scroll through Feeds, hop from profile to profile.”
Previously, Instagram had launched shopping features. In recent years, its rolled out ecommerce tools that allow brands to tag their posts with individual products. Users are now able through tapping a photo, to see details like price, and click out to the brand’s website to buy the item. Earlier this year, the company expanded these shopping tags to more countries, such as the UK and Brazil.
People already use the platform to follow trends, and now the e-commerce could open up new revenue opportunities.
“Instagram is a place where you discover new things, brands, destinations for travel and furniture,” said Jonah Berger, a marketing and social influence expert at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “The challenge at the moment is that discovery is happening, but Instagram isn’t necessarily getting credit.”
“They’re trying to make money off of something that’s already happening on the platform,” he added.
Instagram businesses for the shopping tools it provides are currently free. It is, however, exploring sponsored formats, according to an Instagram spokesperson. Instagram’s Shah told CNN advertising continues to be its core business model.
According to unconfirmed reports, Instagram has plans to launch a standalone e-commerce app, but the company declined to comment on this.
