Instagram has announced new sales options on its blog: a number of brands can now add a special tag to their images, which gives followers the option to directly buy the item.
Lower threshold for purchase
Right now, the trial is only available to 20 American brands like Kate Spade, JackThreads and Warby Parker. Whenever they use the tag, a new icon is added to the image and when an Instagram user clicks that particular icon, product information and a “shop now” button appear. The button immediately brings the consumer to the brand’s online shopping cart.
Previously, Instagram added the option to place ads, which also resulted in a direct purchase, but this has taken things one step further. Many brands use Instagram as a show window, but the threshold to an actual purchase was way too high for many users. With this new approach, Instagram hopes to lower that threshold.
One of the future updates is that the company wants to give users the opportunity to save content, giving them time to consider a possible purchase. Research has shown that only 1 in 5 purchases is done in a 24h period and that consumers generally need several days to decide on a purchase.
