The Instagram Shopping App Could Become An Uber-Cool Visual Storefront in One Tap, If It Comes Alive

Following the success of IGTV, Instagram is now taking digital customer experience to an all-time high with its speculated shopping app. With Instagram’s standalone shopping app, customers can experience seamless shopping while finding better and more relevant products on their mobile screens. Unmatched photo quality, better content discovery and chat assistance could be some really interesting features that stores and retailers could explore with IG Shopping app.

Instagram Shopping App Marks the Beginning of Social Media for Shopping

According to the reports, first published by The Verge, Instagram is working on a standalone app, which could be called IG Shopping. Though Instagram has officially declined to comment on the speculation, the news has since gone viral. We see an excitement among marketers and ecommerce brands on the new destination to deliver visual-backed shopping experiences to customers.

Earlier this year, Instagram announced that they are bringing shopping to Instagram Stories. The Instagram Shopping App was a natural step for the visual content platform.

With 300 million people using Instagram Stories every day, shoppers are now finding new products from brands they love.

In a recent survey, Instagrammers said they often watch stories to stay in-the-know with brands they’re interested in, get an insider view of products they like, and find out about new products that are relevant to them.

What is ‘Shopping’ on Instagram?

In their official page, Instagram defines ‘Shopping on Instagram’ as an immersive content medium for businesses and people to find and explore best products with a ‘single tap’. The catch for any marketer is ‘Single Tap.’ Why?

Well, you should know the average attention time of a mobile user while searching for content and products! We aren’t repeating that here…

From liking photos on Instagram to tagging posts that have more than five products per image, filters, and captions that enthrall shoppers, IG Shopping app could add more muscle to its current inventory—once it moves from the present development to a use mode.

Patrick Munden, Global Head of Retail, Salmon spoke to us about the possible impact of IG Shopping on current ecommerce ecosystem, largely dominated by Amazon, and to an extent Walmart-Flipkart. Patrick said, “Instagram’s proposed expansion into eCommerce is really just the tip of the iceberg for many brands looking to tap into social media platforms’ younger audiences. Amazon had previously partnered with Snapchat for much the same reasons, offering up their products to younger people who look to emulate celebrities and influencers.”

Patrick added, “The new Instagram ‘IG shopping’ app will look to bridge the divide between being ‘inspired’ on social media and actually hitting the purchase button. Our own research this year found that 29% of Millennials in the UK and US use social media to actively purchase products, showing a real opportunity for growth in this market.”

Instagram Shopping App Could Better Target Gen Z Shoppers

IG Shopping is for Generation Z. But, they would not like to lose the plot with the older generation either. Given the hyper-relevant search and personalization for mobile content experiences, IG Shopping could become the ubiquitous choice of shopping for all smartphone users.

Shari Lott, Founder & CEO, SpearmintLOVE had revealed how shopping on Instagram accomplishes one of the most critical tasks in improving ecommerce performance: it makes it easier to buy.

Patrick agrees. He said, “Fortunately for Instagram, they hold a significant share of the younger market – particularly those 16 and over, the platform’s key target audience – and the brand name to boot. It will be interesting to see how the app will be deployed separately or if it will be integrated into Instagram’s main app, like IGTV earlier this year.”

The opportunities for online brands are incredibly endless—something that even Facebook could not imagine with their primary app. With more people hopping onto Instagram for chats, search and photo sharing, Instagram standalone shopping app could be a formidable opponent to Amazon.

Patrick said, “Whatever the case, it represents another opportunity for brands to sell to a new audience and another weapon on their balanced approach arsenal which should span marketplaces, retailers and their own websites. As social media becomes ubiquitous for all manners of communication, inspiration, and purchasing, no brand will want to be left behind in the race to sell to this increasingly important young consumer audience.”

From launching IGTV as a YouTube competitor to working in stealth on their Shopping app, Instagram surely knows the pulse of its customers and the audience it intends to target with its latest offering.