A little over a week ago, Instagram took the next step towards becoming the ultimate eCommerce-friendly app by introducing in-app checkout. ‘Checkout on Instagram’ rolled out in the US for 23 well-known brands, each with a great Instagram presence.
Instagram released a statement, “you can buy products through Instagram anywhere you see a post with [a shopping bag icon (like the one above)] and a Checkout on Instagram option on the checkout page.” The little shopping bag tag allows users to click a product in an Instagram post for pricing and product information. It will direct them to a checkout page within the app, users can then enter their billing and shipping information and place their order. After the in-app transaction, they will be redirected back to their Instagram feed.
In the press release about the new feature, Instagram notes that, “Once your first order is complete, your information will be securely saved for convenience the next time you shop. You’ll also receive notifications about shipment and delivery right inside Instagram, so you can keep track of your purchase.” The new ‘Orders’ tab will let users track their purchases within the app.
The new Checkout Tags can appear in your feed, on Stories and on your Explore tab. As of right now, these brands cannot use the new ‘Checkout on Instagram’ feature in ads, only organic content.
TechCrunch reported that while this new feature is still in closed beta, the potential for eCommerce and retail brands is huge as, “Instagram plans to allow merchants to integrate their Shopify, BigCommerce, ChannelAdvisor, CommerceHub and other tools with the Checkout feature.” Instagram also noted that the brands you use ‘Checkout on Instagram’ with will play a role in content ranking within your app.
Shopping on Instagram was introduced over a year ago. Brands can post and tag products available to purchase on the website and users can tap on the shopping bag tag and click for product information. To purchase, users click through to “View on Website” where they could then checkout with that retailer.
‘Checkout on Instagram’ is changing the in-app shopping game. We’ll have to wait to hear more from Instagram on when the feature will be available to more brands, but we can’t wait to explore in the meantime. We might even have to make a few purchases from the ‘Checkout on Instagram’ supported brands in the name of market research.
