Social Media and Shopping – Instagram’s Latest Feature

How Does it Work?
With this new feature, images can be enabled with links that reveal the names and prices of products when the picture is clicked / tapped on. People will be able to see what posts have this enabled feature as they will display a shopping bag icon in the top right-hand corner of the profile page. Multiple links can be inserted into one image so that if the image features a pair of sunglasses and a matching case for example; the names and prices for both of these products will appear. When the user then clicks / taps on the product that they are interested in, they will be taken to a separate page that showcases the product along with a ‘Shop Now’ button. Upon clicking / tapping on this, the user will then be taken to the company website to complete the purchase. As such, this makes for a neat four click / tap social media and shopping experience.

How Can my Business Enable This?
As this new feature is still in the early stages of being rolled out, it is not readily available to every brand and business. However you can apply to Instagram for this feature if you meet the following requirements. It seems that as of now at this early stage, your Instagram account must be setup with a USA based IP address. It also needs to be running the most up to date version of the Instagram app. You will also need to have set up a Shopify account and make sure that this is linked to the products that you sell on your Facebook business page. This forms the link between what can be enabled and sold through Instagram. When you go to post an image onto your Instagram account then, you will be given the option to tag any products in the image. This will then show a list of your products which have been enabled on Shopify (via your Facebook catalogue) from which to pick the correct product. Save the tag(s) and finish your post upload and you will have successfully posted a shopping enabled post.

As you can see, social media and shopping are a growing partnership that Instagram are now starting to invest in. At this early stage, see if you are able to enable this for your business to foster sales and conversions through your Instagram account. Let the Webheads team know if you require any social media assistance as our experts will be happy to help.