Instagram Aims To Have Athletes, Teams Sell Products

To create relationships with fans, sports stars, teams and leagues have used Instagram for a long time. But they are also increasingly tapping into the social media platform to sell products as well, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Serena Williams and her S by Serena fashion brand rolled out a new sequin jacket on Nov. 20 that one could only buy via the “Checkout” feature of Instagram. The outlet also noted that a jumpsuit that consumers could also purchase on SerenaWilliams.com.

As it stands, Instagram is making commerce a big priority as shoppers turn to mobile devices for shopping. Smartphones, in one case, accounted for 35.6 percent of eCommerce sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 2 per Adobe Analytics.

Beyond Williams, the social media platform is the primary venue for the Los Angeles Clippers’ social merchandising efforts. The team used “shoppable” posts on Instagram this summer to sell jerseys for new players Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, in addition to throwback uniforms that were Buffalo Braves-branded.

The social media platform has been encouraging sports world experiments. It sees value in sports leagues, athletes and teams as their own type of fashion influencer. Athletes like Williams and many NBA stars have personal fashion brands they seek to promote.

And Dev Sethi, head of sports for Instagram, said per the outlet, “Shopping as a feature is a main priority for Instagram Sports.”

In separate news, Instagram, in its continued effort to expand its eCommerce offerings, has rolled out a new feature that will allow a user to be notified when a product becomes available for purchase per news in September.

The feature is available via just-added stickers in Instagram Stories and tags in a person’s feed and can be set with details such as product details and the date. Instagram has huge reach — upwards of 1 billion people use the app every month, and 500 million use it daily per news at the time.