Instagram Goes Shoppable

Instagram has reportedly rolled out shoppable tags on photos from as many as 20 retail brands. According to a report by TechCrunch, some of the retail brands include Kate Spade and JackThreads.

The new service works likes this: Retailers tag products in their photos, which aren’t visible until a user clicks the “Tap to view products” button. After selecting the product, Instagram users see a detail page within the app with specific information about the product, including price, description, additional photos and a “Shop Now” button to buy it online.

Because the product pages load within Instagram, they appear much quicker than getting sent to a browser, noted the report. Users are able to easily go back and forth between product details and their Instagram feed, noted the report. While Instagram doesn’t get a cut of the sale, it plans to eventually make money by letting brands pay to show their shoppable photos, reported TechCrunch.

Down the road, Instagram wants to add a “Save” feature so users can bookmark product posts as they browse and come back to them later. That’s designed for users who may not want to purchase right off the bat but will come back to it later. The report noted that, thanks to shoppable tags, brands will no longer have to rely on “check link in bio” when working with Instagram. Instagram doesn’t allow brands to link organic posts and only lets profiles include one link. The move on the part of Instagram comes as a study from the social media network found 60 percent of users say they learn about products and services on the app, while 75 percent say they take actions, such as going to the website, searching for it or telling their friends about it. The easier Instagram makes it for users to get shopping value off the app, the longer they could stay on Instagram, the report noted.