Instagram is Extending Shopping Capabilities on IGTV and Reels
Instagram, one of the most popular social media and image- video post sharing platforms, has already opened a new age e-commerce trend with its shopping posts and other e-commerce posts. It has now extended its shopping feature and e-commerce facilities to IGTV on Reels to give the e-commerce sites and brands better attention and a centre stage for showcasing their products and services. This article will offer you detailed information on this matter.
Shopping Ads on IGTV
Instagram has expanded its reach for e-commerce business owners. Instagram Reels now also supports brands and businesses. Reels is already popular among Insta users because it allows them to share short videos. That means brands can directly upload short videos on Instagram. Moreover, Insta will also enable brands to live stream their essential events or any other program through IGTV for Insta users. Instagram announced this news via email and has already opened its doors to businesses.
IGTV is now open for all brands and businesses, and the test on Reels will start from the end of this year. With IGTV, viewers will be able to tap and choose any item they use in a video clip. The item will be picked up instantly, and they can purchase anything they like by just watching the videos. IGTV comes with Instagram’s exclusive checkout cart that will allow a user to checkout directly without visiting the seller’s website or app. But, a buyer can choose to go to the official website of the seller for checkout. Both facilities will be available.
The news is a breakthrough effort from Facebook, which owns Instagram. It will allow Facebook to get more limelight from users in this holiday season. Facebook may gain a better edge against video apps and sites like TikTok with this new feature of Instagram. This year has been virtual year due to the coronavirus pandemic and Facebook, and Insta might open a new age virtual shopping trend for their users.
Market Rivalry Analysis
The announcement does not come as a surprise. Instagram and Facebook both have given a lot of limelight to the e-commerce sector in their platforms. Instagram mostly has offered the brands a centre stage to get a better growth rate. It may be a great move due to the circumstances and the extended holiday period due to the corona pandemic. Facebook is trying to get better coverage and a broader reach in this holiday season market. Maybe Facebook wants to extend its reach in the e-commerce platform and compete with Walmart, Target, and Amazon in its way. Additionally, the social media platform company led by Mark Zuckerberg wants to have leverage over apps like TikTok.
The new feature which allows Reels and IGTV to offer an integrated shopping experience can also increase the demand among designers and brands which have opted for similar video shopping concepts on other platforms. They might want to connect to their customers and targeted audience in a better way and may allow them to get instant sales through video clips.
According to Instagram Chief Operating Officer Justin Osofsky, “Instagram is allowing its sellers to share their stories and collections through video clips. Moreover, the new feature will enable the users to buy anything directly from the videos as per their choice.”
Instagram needs better and advanced adaptation of e-commerce as an integrated platform. Because the advertising channels often take the crowd to their advertisements. This app launched its Instagram Shop, the particular shopping section with the personalized recommendation in July. Moreover, during summer 2020, Instagram relaxed and changed its norms on its Commerce Eligibility Requirements that allowed more brands, businesses, and influencers to sell their items to the Insta users with Instagram exclusive checkout section.
Although Facebook is yet to reveal the exact date of when this feature will be released, it has already offered more limelight to e-commerce brands through its app suite. More and more brands are going virtual due to the current pandemic situation, and Facebook aims to provide smaller and newer brands with a better platform to sell and connect with people.
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Reels and IGTV are two black horses of Instagram that can offer more than just the photo-sharing feature. IGTV which did not gain a lot of popularity among the users in its initial days may finally be able to cross the struggling period with this new feature. It has gained more popularity after it introduced a live streaming feature. Instagram had already started to test video ads in IGTV and maybe this new move comes after the testing.
Reels, which was released in August, offers the same features as TikTok. Instagram now wants to grab the attention of users and brands like TikTok with their new Video shopping feature. Walmart has already expressed its high opinion about TikTok’s potential as new age e-commerce and advertising platform and also expressed its plan to invest in TikTok in the future.
TikTok is already facing robust surveillance from the US government led by President Trump. It is because its parent company ByteDance has a close relationship with China. This strong opposition from the government has allowed Reel to get more edge and a better opportunity. Hence, Instagram may get better outreach as an e-commerce platform for retail goods. Many brands have expressed their interest in Reels and have started their video ads with dance videos and hashtag challenges like TikTok.
Instagram now needs to face its biggest challenge, offering the users the best experience after including this new feature. If they need appreciation from users and want their users to use Reels and IGTV for shipping, it needs to take care of the user experience as its top priority.
Wrapping Up
Instagram is not the only social media platform that has realized the great potential of shopping through video content. Walmart has already stated its plan to acquire a share of TikTok to get an exclusive entry to video content shopping through their app. The latest trend already has combined video content with shopping to offer the customers a better look at what they are buying with some engaging advertisements. It is a new trend that will stay for a long time. TikTok has only tapped some of the initial potentials offered by their new shopping trend. TikTok’s test run with Levi for a video ad during the initial days of this Covid-19 pandemic showed a new way. Instagram has seized the opportunity and announced the video shopping facility in IGTV and Reels. But, there is no news when this feature will be available on Reels. According to Instagram’s official statement, the part might be released later this year. But there is no news of the exact date, and people have to wait till further announcement.