Shopping is about to become an even biggest focus on Instagram with a new update coming out today that makes it easier to find what your favorite accounts are peddling.
The photo-sharing app revealed that it is rolling out its Shopping in Stories feature to businesses in 46 countries today, allowing users to tap on an item to quickly learn about it and possibly purchase it through the business’ website.
This is what it will look like:
Photo: Instagram
Instagram detailed the changes in a blog post this afternoon. The feature was in the testing phase this summer, but you should start seeing more shopping bags overlayed on stories pretty soon. When you tap on the shopping bag icon it pulls up details about the product and the option to buy it.
Only select brands were allowed to use the SHopping in Stories features at first. Now it’s rolling out to all accounts and it could completely change the way many people find and buy items online. Only 90 accounts per month tap on the shopping bags, however, that could quickly change as it becomes more ubiquitous. It could also provide a big new revenue stream for Instagram.
Along with the Shopping in Stories feature, Instagram is also creating a shopping channel in the Explore page. You should see the shopping category popping up in your Explore page today. From there, you can scroll through items to find inspiration and then buy it. Instagram says the changes are rolling out to users in the U.S. today and that it will be going out globally over the next few weeks.
