Have you ever thought about buying everything your favorite store posts on Instagram without leaving the app?
This is very close to becoming possible. Instagram announced earlier this week that it will start testing a new tool that will allow product purchases within its feed. This means that soon, in addition to being a photo and video sharing social network, Instagram will also function as a kind of virtual shopping mall.
According to Instagram, the advantage of this tool is that it presents an intermediate phase, allowing users to first gather information and evaluate the product, instead of being directly taken to the purchase screen, as happens on other websites.
In the new feature, brand images will be worked on more deeply. From the option “Tap here to view products,” the tool will display a screen showing up to five products with information such as description, price, and the “shop now” button, which when clicked will direct the user to the product on the brand's own website, facilitating the purchase process.
Instagram was already being used as a showcase for many brands; the difference now is that users will no longer need to leave the app to search for and find products, which should improve the shopping experience for users and increase brand investment in the platform.
According to Instagram itself, the insight came after data from an internal survey revealed that 50% of users follow a company's or brand's profile and that 60% have discovered a new product or service because of the app. The numbers also show that most purchases take a day or more to be completed, and only 21% are made on the same day, which should change with this new feature.
Initially, the functionality will be released only to some iOS users in the U.S. and is expected to debut next week with 20 American retail brands: 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.
After the testing phase, Instagram plans to expand the platform and implement new features, such as the option to “Save the product for later.”
For Brazilians, all that’s left is to hope that this new feature is indeed the success it promises and arrives here soon.