DataWill Instagram be the new online shopping platform?

dotmug7 years ago8 min

Advertisement

First it was Pinterest, and now Instagram has decided to set its sights on shopping. After a careful analysis of the market, it’s clear that the problem with a lot of e-commerce site is that you really only use them when you already know what you want to buy. There’s no room for a surprise purchase. There’s not much investment in stimulating a potential buyer while they’re scrolling through their feed, and that’s exactly the gap that Instagram is looking to fill. It wants to become the new favorite place for discovering products, and more importantly, for giving brands a unique opportunity for monetization.

How so? By removing the barriers between the moment of discovery and the purchase.

A lot of research shows that the issue with traditional e-commerce sites is that they take away the element of surprise from shopping. That is, they only work when you already know what you want.

Shopping comes to Instagram

How does it work? With a simple “Tap to view products” you’re taken directly from a photo to a page with a list of products and their prices, and then you can find out more about them with just another tap. For now, this service is still in the experimental phase, with a list of 20 companies involved, including Abercrombie, Warby Parker, Kate Spade and Macy’s.

https://vimeo.com/189697603

“Most mobile shopping experiences today take people from the shop window right to check out — without giving consumers the opportunity to consider a product and get more information,”..

The company explains in its blog the decision to launch this new feature, and the goals it has in mind. Internal research showed that only 21% of consumers bought an item online the same day they first saw it. Most tend to buy it in the following days, when they’ve found out more about the product. So the solution could be a contextual purchase, which connects what we’re seeing with the items we’re interested in. It’s true that a lot of people still have doubts about Social Commerce platforms; and with the spread of mobile, it’s also true that at this point, users engage with it on while on the move and while scrolling through content on social channels. It’s definitely an interesting challenge, but we’re sure that it could be a great opportunity, and not only for fashion brands. Instagram is showing an unrivaled sense of innovation.

https://vimeo.com/189697604

After the launch of Stories, Instagram focused on direct monetization. It continues to position itself as a hub for services, offering its users a global and contextual experience through the visual quality of its content, which can then result in a concrete action. The only question still remaining is whether it will be a paid feature, or one that’s accessible to all.

dotmug

"C’è una sola cosa orribile al mondo, un solo peccato imperdonabile: la noia". Oscar Wilde. Dalla redazione di Dotmug non ci annoiamo di certo. Sempre alla ricerca di notizie, condiviamo, twittiamo, instagrammiamo in costante connessione con il mondo digital.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.