What the Future of Instagram Shopping Holds

Instagram Shopping, commonly known as Insta Shopping, is one of the latest features that the photo-sharing giant has added.

IG Shopping is like a social storefront to empower e-commerce brands by allowing Instagrammers and customers to discover new products/services from just a single tap.
 

Why is Insta Shopping important?

So, this feature's primary purpose is to allow you to highlight any product from your Instagram feeds and tag prices to it.

Instagram Shopping makes it very easy for brands to bring attention to products that they have posted before. It also makes it easy to convert customers and appeal to them.
 

What you stand to lose without Insta Shopping

Mostly, an Instagram user has to be following a particular brand before they can get access to the products.

The user can like a post from a specific brand, and they can also leave a comment on the post to show some interest. Such users might have to visit the brand's website to locate or purchase the product in the IG post.

You would agree that this process is quite cumbersome and defeats the purpose of convenience, which social media is supposed to provide.

Instagram Shopping has come to ensure some form of guarantee and ease that will ensure that the customer finds the product and purchases it.

Many Instagrammers won't be willing to go through all those steps (and movements between channels) to get a product.
 

What you stand to gain from IG Shopping

• The Instagram update includes a shopping tab in the app (only if you're in a supported market)

• A new shop tab on your Instagram profile

• The ability to tag products and shop from videos
   

How does Instagram Shopping work?

So when a user notices a product on the Instagram feed of a brand, with Instagram Shopping, the user can just tap the post.

If the product has been tagged, it takes the user to the brand's website when they click it. There, the user will be able to find a particular product and many more.

Note that the Insta Shopping feature is available on both main-feed Instagram posts and Instagram stories.
 

Using Instagram Posts

If you're going with an Instagram post, then you should follow the following steps:

1. Your country's eligibility: The first thing to do is check if your country is eligible for this feature. If it isn't, you would have to wait until Instagram Shopping becomes available in your country. (Visit the "supported market" link above to check.)

2. Link your Facebook page to your Instagram account: To use Instagram Shopping, ensure that your Facebook channel is linked to your Instagram account. 

3. Create an Instagram business account: You'll need to create a business (or creator) account as the feature is designed for brands and creators.

4. Install Instagram sales channel in your Shopify store: (That is if you're using Shopify.) Ensure your Instagram sales channel is linked to your store. This way, it's easier to add products and links to your store.

5. Upload an image: Upload a photo on Instagram, just the same way you post any other image.

6. Tag your products: You can tag products by tapping on any part of the image—the same way you tag people.

7. Choose your product: After clicking on the product you want to tag, you'll be prompted to input the product name. The names should correspond to that of your store.

There's a limit to the number of products you can tag in one post, making your Instagram content very precise. On the other hand, you can opt for carousel posts, which allows you to tag more products.
 

Using Instagram Stories

Instagram has also extended this feature to the Stories tab so that users can make purchases with even more ease.

This feature exposes brands and their products to a wide audience as Instagram Stories get daily engagements from about 300 million Instagrammers.

Below are the steps to take when running Instagram Shopping through Instagram Stories:

Step 1: Again, check if your country is eligible for the feature

Step 2: Ensure that your Facebook page is connected to your Instagram page

Step 3: Create an Instagram business/creator account

Step 4: Install the Instagram Sales Channel on your store's CMS

Step 5: Create a story 

Step 6: After creating a story, you'll be able to tag specific products and potentially increase sales
 

How to tag products on Instagram

Tagging products is a very strategic move as far as Instagram is concerned. Here the steps to follow when you want to tag a product:

Step 1: Choose a photo and click the 'Tag Product' option

Step 2: Click on the products to be tagged within the photo

Step 3:  Make sure all the relevant products are tagged

Step 4:  Click 'Done' and then Share
 

Tips to have in mind when tagging an Instagram product

• Use very crisp and high-quality images of your products

• To avoid confusion, only tag products that are in the image

• Occasionally, you can share customer images and feedbacks to create some form of trust and credibility

• Install the Instagram Shopping app to make the best out of this feature

• Also, install Instagram Sales in your Shopify store to make the process of tagging much more effortless
   

Using Insta Shopping is not so difficult after all, is it?
 

The future of Instagram Shopping

The truth is that Instagram Shopping has been around for quite some time now. But Live Instagram Shopping came to the fore around August 2020. A lot of brands are already investing in this direction. And why not? Live Shopping makes it a step closer to what is obtainable in real life.

Business owners can now show better how-to's and create tutorials with Live feeds. This is the future of sales and marketing, especially considering the growing level of user engagement in Instagram, Stories, and Live.