Back in 2020, Instagram introduced on-platform ecommerce capabilities with Shops, which it described as “an immersive fullscreen storefront that enable businesses to build their brand story and drive product discovery.”
Now, it’s adding a small suite of tools aimed at helping creators direct fans to their storefronts.
Most significantly, Instagram now lets creators who have both personal and Shops accounts link the two, which means they will be able to display and sell products from their Shop on their personal account via a new View Shop button embedded in its profile.
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That feature is available for all users globally, Instagram says.
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Next up, Instagram is pushing integration with its ecommerce partners. Creators who vend merch through one of the platform’s four partners–Bravado/UMG, Fanjoy, Represent, and Spring (formerly Teespring)–will soon be able to link those accounts to their personal Instagram profiles, too.
Those who don’t have a merch shop yet “can design their own merchandise and open a new shop with Spring: creators design the merch and Spring will handle all production, shipping, and customer service,” Instagram says. (It’s not clear if or how this is different from Spring’s usual services for creators.)
Instagram says integration capabilities will roll out to “all eligible creators in the U.S.” by the end of 2021.
Finally, Instagram is now allowing “select creators” to tag products from Shops in their posts, Stories, and Reels.
These tools are the latest in a yearlong string of Instagram ecommerce expansions. Since the start of the pandemic (which sparked a surge in online shopping), it has introduced on-platform shopping/order placing feature Checkout, product launch feature Drops, and brought shoppable ads to Reels (its TikTok competitor) and IGTV. It’s also added a professional dashboard for business owners that pulls together its current roster of business-related offerings, including tools, expanded stats about accounts and monetization, and educational content meant to help users grow their companies digitally.
