Instagram is making it easier for people to shop inside its app. Today, it’s starting to widely roll out a dedicated Shop page under the Explore tab that’ll highlight different brands and items that people can purchase. The Shop page will also give users personalized recommendations on things to buy, with everything being able to be purchased from within the app. Instagram is also making Facebook Pay, which lets people insert most debit or credit card information into the app and save it to easily share money. Facebook Pay is available for both shopping purchases and donations, which has been planned since the product debuted. Both these features are coming to the US first.
Combined, these features make shopping on Instagram more seamless, especially when it comes to paying. People don’t have to exit Instagram or constantly reenter their payment information to buy something, which has previously presented a major hurdle for buyers. As of right now, Instagram isn’t taking a cut of purchases made over Instagram, but it’s easy to imagine a world in which it begins doing so and therefore profiting off those sales.
Instagram has slowly added shopping features to its app. Last year, it enabled in-app purchases and, in 2018, began allowing users to tag the products in their photos and their video content, making them more monetizable. Instagram is setting itself up to be both a place where people can find lifestyle or clothing inspiration and where they can effortlessly purchase the items to make that dream life a reality.
