Instagram launches shopping via Reels

Shoppable content and social commerce are the new frontiers of digital sales with Instagram announcing e-commerce in its short-video feature will be made permanent. The development further highlights the importance of brands taking a mobile-first approach.

With its new feature Instagram is making shopping available via every format, in its Feed, in Stories, Live and IGTV.

While most social media platforms generate revenue from advertising, there is an opportunity to profit from sales and seller fees. In Instagram’s case, user turn to the platform for product inspiration, and the opportunity to buy directly from the app streamlines that process, writes tech publication the Verve.

TikTok, the rival short-video platform, is partnering with Shopify to launch new shopping features, including a test that would let Shopify users tag stores in their videos with a “shop now” button.

According to BoF, fashion brands have been slow to enter the social commerce space, preferring instead to lure shoppers to their own e-commerce websites where they can retain control over valuable shopper data as well as the entirety of their sales.

Image: Artem Beliaikin / Unsplash