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Instagram extends its Shopping service to the UK

Lauretta Roberts
20 March 2018

Instagram is extending its Shopping service, which allows brands and retailers to sell products seamlessly from the social platform, to the UK.

The launch in the UK follows a small-scale beta trail with Marks & Spencer, swimwear brand Heidi Klein and slipper brand Mahabis. The feature was successfully rolled out in the US last October.

Shopping allows brands and retailers to link directly to products on their own websites and add information such as price and product details. Previously retailers had to rely on the "link in bio" method of allowing shoppers to click through directly to a product page, as Instagram didn't allow links in tags or captions.

Retailers are now able to directly link to up to five products per post or 20 products per multi-image post (at the moment the service is only available on organic, and not on sponsored, posts) and the service is free to users with a business profile. Posts with shoppable tags will be identifiable to users by the use of a shopping bag icon.

"People come to Instagram every day to discover and buy products from their favourite businesses,” Instagram head of business Jim Squires said. “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.

The service has also been rolled out to Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain on 20 March.

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