After years of ogling beautiful images of food, fashion, and design on Instagram,
people will now be able to buy things they see and like directly through the app
providing instant gratification for the trend-obsessed and a new source of income for
parent Facebook Inc. Starting Tuesday, the photo-sharing app is testing a shopping
feature, called Checkout, with a handful of retailers including Nike Inc and designer
fashion platform Revolve.
“Over time, as we are creating value for people, this could
be a significant part of our business,” said Vishal Shah, Instagram’s head of product.
On Checkout, people will be able to buy directly within Instagram, rather than being
directed to a retailer’s website. It’s unlikely Instagram will release further details
about the financial specifics until next year, although Shah said he sees it as the next
big business model opportunity after advertising. Facebook has tried many times to
build e-commerce businesses, with varied success.
On Instagram, the transition is
happening more naturally, as people tend to follow brands and influencers for
lifestyle inspiration from fashion to design to food and travel.
Some of those who have large followings on Instagram has been able to launch
products, from merchandise for famous pets to makeup lines for well-known beauty
artists. With advertising growth in Facebook’s news feed slowing, the company is
seeking new lines of business and will become more dependent on other properties
it owns, like Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Instagram thinks shopping will be
a significant business because it already has a feature for people to see what
products are in a photo and to save and share items. It’s used by 130 million people
each month, the company says.
Shoppers will be able to pay with Visa, Mastercard, Discover and PayPal, Instagram
said. As the feature expands, businesses will be able to integrate the purchasing
directly or work with partners such as Shopify Inc. This will also increase the users
and the spread of the tool and will promote the app as in other aspects as well. This
will people together in making their business and getting in touch with other groups
and communities.
