Fulfilling an Appetite to Shop
Have you recently stopped and realized how much time do you spend on your phone daily? This might sound like “Social Dilemma-ish”, however, it’s something I came to realize after checking my screen time of the day (Probably not a good idea), which turned out to be 5 hours and 1 minute. From this total, 3 hours and 21 minutes correspond to Social Networking; in my case meaning Instagram, as my only currently active Social Media. Even though you might think I’m a social media freak by now, bare with me since I wanted to briefly analyze how’s Instagram effectively increasing my consumption on their platform, and probably yours. And to do so, let’s dive into the latest news about Instagram including shopping on reels. First implemented on images, then videos, IGTV, Live, and now on reels, basically everywhere.
Did you know 90% of all Instagram users follow at least one business account? And, what about the fact 83% of users discover new products or services on this platform? Well, let me tell you, Instagram has come to be known as the best social media for e-commerce marketing. They have turn out to be an ideal shopping space, by having 80% of their users deciding whether to buy a product or service in their platform. But would they be able to do so without influencers and brands?
It’s not a mystery that today almost everyone wants to become an influencer and most of them are relying on it as their source of income (Who wouldn’t love that, right?). And in fact, they’re not going anywhere, they’ll just keep coming. And this is because along with brands, they’re Instagram’s key element on e-commerce success. They do so, by generating quality content, motivating people whereas on fashion, décor, sport, among other industries, and engaging with them to the point they influence their shopping decisions. Therefore, Instagram’s job in this case is to give them the tools to keep on inspiring users and at the same time helping businesses reach customers and stay alive. This tool is the shopping option on whatever channel they have, consequently increasing yours and my Instagram consumption. A win-win situation for brands, users, influencers, and Instagram, right?
That being said, I must say Instagram is doing what they must do to battle for social commerce, and if it’s already working on their other channels, why not implement it in every channel they have? This is an area with so much potential growth, where even Walmart, along with its part ownership of TikTok, wants to discover. In short, as Instagram says: “People come to Instagram to shop and we’re making it easier to learn about products and make a purchase right within video content across IGTV, Live, Stories and soon Reels”.
