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Instagram is about to introduce shopping from creators; the latest move in its morphing from social platform to shopping platform

Alice Ierace
01 May 2019

Instagram has long been fashion's favourite social media platform and it seems to be on a mission to become fashion's favourite shopping platform too.

Its latest announcement – that it will allow users to shop directly from "creators" (i.e. influencers) – is the latest in a line of shoppable features it has introduced over the past 12 months. We track the major changes.

MAY 2019

Instagram announced that users will be able to shop inspiring looks from the creators they love without leaving the app. Instead of taking a screenshot or asking for product details in comments or Direct, everyone will be able to tap the image to see what creators are wearing and buy it on the spot.

Both creators and the brands tagged will receive shared insights within the app so they can better understand performance of shopping posts. For brands, this will mean a new way to reach an engaged audience who are actively looking to their favourite creators for inspiration, as well as making it easier to shop a brand's products.

Over the coming weeks, the social media platform will start testing the new function with a small group of creators, including Chiara Ferragni, Gigi Hadid and Vogue.

Instagram Checkout

Instagram Checkout

MARCH 2019

Earlier this year the platform launched a check-out feature (pictured above), which allows customers to buy items without leaving the app. 

When a customer taps to view a product from a brand’s shopping post, they will see a “Checkout on Instagram” button on the product page. Customers can tap it to select from various options such as size or colour, then proceed to payment without leaving Instagram.

Users only need to enter their name, email, billing information and shipping address the first time they check out.

Once a customer’s first order is complete, their information will be securely saved. They will also receive notifications about shipment and delivery from inside Instagram, to enable them to keep track of their purchase.

Brands including Adidas, Burberry, Dior, H&M, Nike and Zara were the first to roll out the feature.

Instagram

Instagram Shopping Collection

NOVEMBER 2018

Instagram introduced three different ways to discover new products and keep track of all shopping inspiration in one place: the shopping collection, the shop on business profiles and the shopping in feed videos.

In particular, the shopping collections give users the chance to save a must-have item for later. It is accessible from the profile and it is an easy way to keep track of items in the wish-list. The redesign of the Shop tab on business profiles also allows users a quick view of all the products featured in their shopping posts.

Instagram

Instagram Shopping in Stories

SEPTEMBER 2018

In September, Instagram announced the expansion of shopping in stories which was made available worldwide and expanded to businesses in 46 countries. Alongside that, the social media platform introduced the shopping in Explore, which is personalised and allows users to browse across their interests and go deeper on any area they like.

The company conducted a survey where Instagrammers said they used stories to stay in the-know with brands they’re interested in. Following this, Instagram announced a major update: the expansion of the shopping function from feed to stories to enable users to shop more instantly.

THE INFLUENCE OF INFLUENCERS

Tracking the effectiveness of influencers is one of the major challenges for marketers but by introducing the ability to shop direct from feeds, Instagram is offering a gold plated metric by which an influencer-led campaign can be measured.

There has been much chatter lately (particularly in light of the Fyre Festival debacle) about the loss of trust in influencers and this presaging a bursting of the influencer bubble, but according to TheIndustry.fashion's flagship study How Britain will Shop for Fashion in 2019 & Beyond, this is far from true.

The study will be published in four parts with the first focusing on The Influence of Influencers, out later this month. Some 1,000 British shoppers of all ages and demographics were surveyed and of those who follow influencers on social media, 30% said they "often" bought fashion they saw on influencers' feeds, while a further 53% said they sometimes did (see chart below). Only 3% "never" buy things they have seen on influencers' feeds.

THE DOWNSIDE 

Of course, there is a downside to Instagram's shape-shift from social channel to shopping channel. Research conducted by analytics experts Ghost Data and reported by NBC News has shown how, due to the increasing shoppability of the app, "the number of accounts involved in counterfeiting activities linked to brands including Gucci, Chanel, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and Dior has almost tripled over the last three years."

The research also shows how these fake accounts have become more popular and active by "publishing a total of 65m posts and an average of 1.6m Stories each month."

In effect those vendors who used to sell contraband designer goods from suitcases in major shopping streets have now set up shop online.

This trust issue is perhaps an even bigger one for the app to tackle, than that of the integrity of influencers, if it hopes to become a major force in fashion shopping.

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