Every loyal Instagram user knows it and uses it: Instagram Shopping. You know, the irresistible little white shopping bag that appears subtly on a product photo. In just a few clicks you buy the same trendy sneakers as your favourite influencer's. Lightning fast, extremely simple and without doubt the best way to boost your online sales today. Read our blog and let yourself be convinced by all the advantages of Instagram Shopping.
What exactly is Instagram Shopping?
Simple. It's a webshop, but on Instagram. When you post a photo on Instagram with your business account, you can tag products just like you tag other accounts. A little white shopping bag appears when someone views the photo, your followers can click through on the product and get taken to your own Instagram webshop. Does your product completely convince your followers? Then a single simple click takes them to the product page on your website. Let's boost those sales.
Fun fact: in plenty of countries it's already possible to check out on Instagram itself without being sent to the seller's website. That'll be possible in Belgium soon too. Even fewer distractions while shopping and… even more sales. Thank you, Instagram.
Why is Instagram Shopping interesting?
First of all: Instagram is HOT. With millions of users worldwide it's without doubt one of the most popular social channels of the moment. On top of that, more than half of all Instagram users have used the app at some point to buy a product online. That's probably because Instagram is very photo-driven and visual… and people love that. But a link in a description isn't clickable on Instagram, unlike on Facebook. Very irritating when you want to encourage followers to buy. Luckily, if you use Instagram Shopping, you can simply tag your product. What a piece of cake.
In short: Instagram's many users see a photo of a nice product appear on their favourite platform and can — thanks to the tag — click straight through to the Instagram shop to make a purchase. A genuine success formula, if you ask us.
Also worth noting and definitely not unimportant: an Instagram shop is completely free.
How do you start an Instagram Shop?
Not only an Instagram account, but a Facebook account too is necessary to add a shopping function. It starts with creating a Facebook shop with all your products. In many webshop platforms an automatic integration is possible, so you don't have to add all your products to your shop manually. Handy.
Do keep a few conditions in mind:
- You have a business account on Instagram
- Your Facebook and Instagram profiles are linked
- Your profile picture is your logo
Once all your settings are right, you wait for your account to be approved. Rejected anyway? Check whether all settings are in order and whether you definitely meet all the conditions. Then request a review.
Get going with your Instagram Shop
As soon as your account is approved for Instagram Shopping, you can get started. Post high-quality, eye-catching images of your products and tag up to 5 products per photo. Want to get even more out of the shopping function? Instructional videos, influencers recommending your products and of course promo codes all work brilliantly to boost your Instagram sales even further.
One last tip to put your Instagram Shop extra in the spotlight: tag products in your stories too. Instagram Stories have a very large reach and are therefore the ideal way to convince followers why they should buy your fantastic products… One click is all it takes.
Conclusion
Let's be honest. An Instagram Shop is indispensable for your online sales. You lose nothing with it and you can gain a great deal. So why are you still hesitating? No time, or you don't have the right knowledge? Okay, we understand that. Which is exactly why you can always come to us to get going with Instagram Shopping. Ready to give your online sales a boost? Let's Instagram Shop.
