Instagram is no longer just a picture sharing platform with the expansion of their Shopping feature, which launched in the US last year, to Australia, as well as Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK from today.
Instagram Shopping allows businesses and brands to setup a catalogue of items, then share a photo on Instagram with up to 5 items from the catalogue tagged. Followers can touch a tag in a photo to see an image and description of the product, the price and then get a link to the website to buy it.
According to Instagram Australia, three partners have been brought on board for the Australian launch with brands Country Road and Myer and PepperMayo, the first to test this feature. There’s also not going to be a commission charged by Instagram for the tags.
Commenting on the significance of this announcement is Jim Squires, Global Head of Business for Instagram.
People come to Instagram every day to discover and buy products from their favourite businesses. We want that to be a seamless experience. Whether it’s a local artisan, florist or clothing store, shopping directly on Instagram has never been easier.
For businesses to be involved in Instagram Shopping, they need to have a Business Profile, become and admin of a Page or set-up Business Manager account, then setup a shop on Facebook, or have a product catalogue within Business Manager.
