Instagram Shoppable - you might have seen it around or heard it mentioned in the past. Technically, it’s been tested between Instagram and the Shopify e-Commerce platform since 2016. However, the popular social media marketing service has now finally gone live and you can find it available across nine countries.
What is Instagram Shoppable?
If you aren’t familiar with the service and are sitting there wondering what the fuss is all about, we're here to help. Instagram Shoppable is a fantastic feature that throws conventional shopping to the wind and gives your followers a new and exciting way to shop online - all without leaving the Instagram app.
Shops will be able to tag up to five products in their posts, which visitors can tap to find out further information about a certain product or proceed to purchase. This makes the whole process smooth and easy for customers, without having to flick back and forth between apps. Think of it as a type of digital window shopping.
Before the availability of Instagram Shoppable, visitors could only use bio links or clickable Instagram stories, which navigated the user away from the app. The roll-out of Shoppable has streamlined the process and made it much easier for visitors to use. In addition, businesses can now offer a shop feed for visitors to scroll through at their leisure.
With Instagram hitting over 800 million monthly users and an incredible 500 million daily active users, the Shoppable feature certainly opens up the opportunity to get more eyes on your product. Paired with the fact that 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business on the popular social media platform, this development should have businesses buzzing with excitement over marketing plans, photo-shoots with their hottest products and, not to mention, the joy this could bring to Christmas shopping!
In terms of geographical reach, only 25% of users are based in the States, meaning that a massive 75% of Instagram users are from all around the globe. Similarly, Instagram reaches a young audience with 90% of users under 35 – including millennials and Gen-Xers who have grown up with search engines and online shopping.
Instagram Shoppable Requirements
For businesses to be eligible for Shoppable they must:
- Be located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom or the United States
- Own an Instagram Business Account
- Have the latest version of the app on iOS or Android
- Sell physical goods (in compliance with Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policies)
- Be connected to a Facebook catalogue
Facebook catalogues can be created in several ways - via the Facebook Business Manager, through your business’ Facebook page, or via BigCommerce or Shopify.
Once you’ve set up a Facebook catalogue, you just need to connect it to your Instagram account. Instagram will need to review your account and confirmation may take a few days to come through, but once confirmation is received, you can start tagging products!
Tagging products on Instagram works in a similar way to tagging users on the site; you’ll find it on the Share screen after you’ve had the option to add effects and filters. As you enter the names of the products you would like to tag, the text box will drop down matching options. Simply select the correct product and tap Done to confirm.
There are already 25 million businesses on Instagram and Instagram Shoppable changes the way users can shop around these “store-fronts”, making it simple to browse, tap and shop – all from one app! Statistics show that photos on Instagram already attract an estimated 36% more engagements than videos and a whopping 65% of these top-performing everyday uploads feature products.
Customers love to see products in action. Whether it’s a model in a dress, the dimensions of a wardrobe or a toy being played with, natural photos sell, and they sell well – an estimated 38% better engagements on photos featuring a face, in fact. So, bin the brochures, can the catalogues and let your pictures do the promoting.
Would you like to incorporate Instagram Shoppable into your business' social media strategy? At i3MEDIA, we specialise in online marketing and can help you set up your Instagram Shoppable page from start to finish. Get in contact with our team today on 01733 890836 or use our contact page.