Instagram has become one of the main internet distractions, a place where users willingly spend a lot of their time indoors, looking through other people’s or product feeds. It’s one of the easiest apps to navigate, which is why it makes a lot of sense for them to get involved with e-commerce.
The Verge reports that Instagram is planning on developing a standalone app called IG Shopping that’ll let users look through collections of items from buyers and businesses that they can then buy directly through the app. The development would put Instagram in competition with websites such as Shopify, exploiting the edge that Instagram has over its social media competitors.
Shopping on Instagram has become more and more popular over the years, with new statistics claiming that four out of five Instagram users follow a business account, and that there are over 25 million businesses active on Instagram today.
Shopping on Instagram gives your business an immersive storefront for people to explore your best products with a single tap. With shopping on Instagram, you can choose photos you’d like to feature, tag posts with up to five products per image or up to twenty products per carousel, add filters or captions and you’re done. You can also save drafts or preview your posts.”
Instagram first featured its shopping tool in 2016, allowing users to buy things from within the app by simply tapping into the photo of the product they want to purchase. While a standalone shopping app is different than what users are acquainted with, it could help businesses and shoppers find content more easily and shop in a way that’s simpler than what they’re used to.
There’s no date for the release of IG Shopping and Instagram has declined to make any comments, but the social media app has been testing out all sorts of features lately. E-commerce could easily be the logical next step.
