Article by Emma Gosper, Business Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre
Last week Instagram announced its newest feature which allows customers to shop directly from Instagram business pages. This will come as a welcome function to online retailers and any businesses who sell online, now able to add shoppable posts to their feeds. This new addition makes it easier than ever for retailers to send customers directly to their products, and easier for customers to shop, with less steps than the traditional online shopping experience.
With the new feature, retailers can upload their post to Instagram as normal, and tag specific products in the post. For example, a clothing retailer might upload an image of an entire outfit; shoes, shirt, pants, bag. Then, they can give a description on each item, a price, and a direct link to that specific item on their online store.
As a customer, when you tap the image, you will see all the details above (description and price), and click through directly to the item, eliminating the need to visit the online store through your browser and then search for the item you want, amongst all the other items.
You can tag up to five products per image and still add captions and filters to make it your own, just like a regular Instagram post.
Instagram has also added a shop button on your business profile, so customers can go directly to your online store from your main Instagram page.
To get started, get your account approved by Instagram by visiting Instagram.com and follow the easy step by step instructions to enable the feature. There is also a step by step process for uploading your first shop post.
Don’t forget to let your customers know that you now have this option available, so create an Instagram story, go live, send them an email blast and promote it as much as possible. Let them know you’re making their shopping experience easier, simpler and faster, and you’ll also be demonstrating that you care about your customers and are keeping up with new experiences like this to give them the best shopping experience possible.