Instagram shopping:Benefits for ecommerce businesses and how it works

Instagram shopping is expanding and becomes more popular. When users see a post with products tagged in it, if they decide to buy one of those products, they tap on it. No links, no third party checkout system to go through. Then, from immediately within the Instagram app, they can pay for the product and have it shipped to their doorstep.

All About Instagram Shopping

However, it is not always ideal. Instagram implemented this system because it allows them to keep users on Instagram. If you are a business that typically thrives on pack-ins, upsells, and related product listings, selling through Instagram does not let you capture any of that.

For an account to be able to use Instagram Shopping, it also has to meet some certain requirements below

Comply with Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policies.”

  • Have an Instagram business account. Your Instagram account must be converted into a business account.
  • Have a connected Facebook Page. Your Instagram business profile must be connected to a Facebook Page. 
  • Primarily sell physical goods. 
  • Have your business account connected to Facebook Catalog.
Instagram Shopping

How does Instagram shopping work?

Instagram Shopping allows online retailers to link to products on their own websites, and list particular pieces of product information such as the price.

This is a much clearer vision compared to the more traditional way of selling goods on the platform, notorious for not having links in photo captions. It was where sellers would caption product photos with “link in bio”. Whereby the link in the biography under the profile section at the top of their page would link through to the desired page in question. Not ideal.

Sellers can tag up to 5 products per image post. Multi-image posts allow for 20 products. When someone taps a tag on your post on Instagram, they will see:

  • Image of the product
  • Product description
  • Price of product
  • Link to the website to purchase

As it stands you can only sell physical items. After 9 posts on an account, the option to Shop is then available which lets users view tagged sale items. And at the moment, you cannot promote shopping posts – though this is likely coming relatively soon.

Instagram gets to see valuable data on purchasing habits and how to best target advertising online.

Instagram shopping work

From Instagram’s website:

  • Simple post creation
    • Tagging products is easy. Choose photos you’d like to feature, tag up to five products per image or up to twenty products per carousel, add filters or captions and you’re good to go. You can also save drafts or preview your posts.
  • Improved consideration
    • Shopping posts give people quick access to pricing and product details both within the Instagram feed and via the Shop tab on a business profile. By tapping on a post, people can take the next step to learn more about products that inspire them from the brands they love.
  • Easier path to purchase
    • Once someone has learned more about a product they like through a shopping post, they can tap “Shop Now” to go directly to your mobile site.

Instagram is also now testing Shopping in Instagram Stories – which allows brands to put product stickers within Stories. With these stickers, this allows shoppers to see information quickly about products without leaving a brand’s Story.

>>> Read more : Instagram marketing: why it is important for your business?

What are the benefits of shopping on Instagram?

Consider the following statistics on why implementing shopping via your Instagram business profile is worthwhile:

  • 800 million accounts actively used worldwide each month
  • 80% of users follow companies
  • 60% of users get to know products via Instagram
  • 200 million accounts visit 1 or more business profiles daily

On top of the exposure, there are numerous reasons that shopping can really enhance your social media presence, as well as your overall sales:

  • Shortened customer journey in 2 clicks
  • Inspiration leading directly to purchases
  • Another avenue for traffic
  • More engagement with posts
  • Extra revenue
  • Showcasing lifestyle images with products involved
  • Customers can picture themselves with the product through quality images
  • User-generated photos can be used to promote products
  • Collaboration with other brands

Of course, your own ecommerce storefront should be the most important element in ensuring this all works. So make sure your website is optimised for conversions for customers when having instagram shopping.

But otherwise, it’s very worthwhile implementing on Instagram shopping if you haven’t already. And you’re already selling online. If your target demographic is definitely using Instagram, then it’s a great way to drive more traffic, inspire more customers, and ultimately generate extra sales you otherwise wouldn’t get.