Instagram wants to help businesses use its Instagram Stories feature as a new retail platform.
This week the social media network unveiled a feature that adds shopping tags to Instagram Stories – shopping bag-shaped notifications that users can select if they want to know more about or purchase an appealing-looking product in a given picture.
“Instagram isn’t just a place of inspiration, it’s also a place of action, and we know that inspiration can come from anywhere,” the company wrote in a June 12 blog post. “From Adidas and Aritzia to Louis Vuitton, people have been able to shop from their favorite brands around the world, and now you can shop these businesses in Instagram Stories.”
Back in March, Instagram parent Facebook conducted a survey that found more than one in three daily Instagram users were more interested in a brand or product after seeing it on Instagram Stories, and that product demonstrations were especially effective, insights Instagram highlighted in its June 12 release.
“Shoppers on Instagram are savvy,” the company wrote. “They visit Instagram looking for the latest trends and styles. With 300 [million] using Instagram Stories everyday, people are increasingly finding new products from brands they love.”
Brands were always early adopters of the Stories platform, wrote.
Now they can use it as a store too.