Facts & Thoughts: Instagram’s Step Into Social Commerce
Instagram has been on the news for its new updates, so here are the facts and my thoughts on them.
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This morning our professor said to us, “the virus came out of nowhere, made itself comfortable and changed our world right in front of our eyes and our lives will never be the same again”. I think that’s the first time it hit me. Our world has changed, in bright daylight, right in front of our eyes and we can do nothing but adapt.
In the spirit of adapting, there isn’t a business in the world, however small, that hasn’t changed its gameplan with the pandemic, including coconut sellers in Indian trains who are now selling pieces of the fruit in plastic wraps.
This week’s media coverage brought our beloved Instagram to the spotlight as it celebrated its birthday on October 06 and entered the double digits, turning 10.
A big girl/boy now, Instagram has made big reveals that have majorly caught user attention.
Long story short, Instagram wants a taste of the social commerce game. And long story long, the highlight is that creators can now tag brands and their products in IGTV videos and make content directly shoppable.
What the facts are:
- For IGTV, Instagram planned a roll-out of an official global launch slated for Oct. 7.
- Businesses and creators who have access to Instagram’s shopping tools and, in the case of creators, have permission from brands to tag their products can sell on IGTV. The ability to tag products is available in more than 70 countries. (as can be seen in the image)
- Towards the end of the year, Reels is expected to see similar features.
On IGTV, users can either complete the purchase via the in-app checkout or they can visit the seller’s website to buy. However, the expectation is that many shoppers will choose to pay for their items without leaving the app, for convenience’s sake.
- This allows Instagram to collect selling fees on those purchases. At scale, this can produce a new revenue stream for the company — particularly now as consumers shop online more than ever, due to the coronavirus pandemic’s acceleration of e-commerce.
( via TechCrunch)
What my thoughts are:
Pandemic Inspired: I believe that with the pandemic, marketers reduced their expenditure on influencers and paid endorsements via social platforms. As WWD rightly mentions, this is an attempt (among many) by Facebook & its babies to allow influencers to monetize their content in a variety of ways. Moreover, Social Commerce has been something on the mind of professionals for more than a decade now. (Remember Burberry?)
When in doubt, social-ify: After it's successful take off in China, with a swarm of apps like WeChat, XiaoHongShu and Pinduoduo, the US market has been warming up to Social Commerce.
I wonder if this is Facebook’s way of capturing businesses (especially SMEs) which have been pushed to the e-commerce world during the pandemic. With an array of updates attracting consumers, these businesses might be expected to set up shop (quite literally) on its platforms and never leave since they’d have set up a successful revenue stream.
Selling Privately: I can’t also help but wonder if, with time, there would be an individual marketplace opportunity on Instagram. By an individual marketplace, I mean, selling products to my friends & followers (who aren’t friends apparently) via my private account or by geolocation (similar to the FB marketplace).
Brand Endorsements: In a video campaign on IGTV or Reels (in months to come), will influencers be tagging all the products featured? As a viewer, I’m looking at everything. I’m looking at her clothes, her carpet, hairband, shoes, flower vase and so much more.
Perhaps this could this lead to more multiple-sponsor content? With a holistic approach to products and services being endorsed!
Also, I wonder, if, instead of the caption, would influencers add details via tags even if the video isn’t sponsored?
Commercialisation: Systrom weighed in about artistic versus commercial imagery on his platform, saying, “I don’t think it’s so much a boundary as it is a balance. If Instagram were full of commerce and there were ‘Buy now!’ links everywhere and that’s all you ever had, I don’t think it would get to the true spirit of communication.” (via WWD)
I have to agree, here. I love Instagram for its simplicity and subtle commercialisation. I wonder how, as ‘Mark Zuckerberg’ believes in the Social Network, Facebook will maintain what makes Instagram “cool”. Commercialisation is profitable, but not cool.
And with regards to Instagram’s future plans, Kristie Dash, beauty and fashion partnerships, Instagram said, “I don’t think before COVID-19 we would have expected Live Shopping to be something so many people are excited about. The future of shopping on Instagram, according to her, is augmented reality shopping.” (via WWD)
And to end, here are some statistics via Railly News:
Brands have always been an important part of the Instagram community:
- 90% of people follow a business on Instagram
- 70% of shoppers come to Instagram to discover new products
- 87% of people say that influencers inspire them when purchasing a product.
- 130 million people click on product tags via Instagram streaming, shopping and video
- Online shopping has gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that 85% of people worldwide shop online.
It continues to work to make it easier to learn and shop about products on Instagram, Stream, IGTV, Stories and soon Reels. Part of this is providing creators with the tools they need to help sell their products and reach new audiences around the world.
I’m still working on understanding Facebook & its kids’ entry into Social Commerce. I have so many thoughts & questions I’m going to discuss with you in upcoming posts! What are some of yours?
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