Instagram Expands Shopping To Instagram Stories

Instagram, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing social network, announced Tuesday (June 12) that it is expanding shopping beyond Feed to Instagram Stories.

In a press release, the company said that, since Instagram is not only a place of inspiration but a venue for action, it is adding shopping to the Stories sector of the network. On Instagram Stories, users will see a sticker with a shopping bag icon. Once tapped, users will get more details about the product.

“From Adidas and Aritzia to Louis Vuitton, people have been able to shop from their favorite brands around the world, and now you can shop these businesses in Instagram Stories,” the social network said in the release. “Shoppers on Instagram are savvy. They visit Instagram looking for the latest trends and styles. With 300M using Instagram Stories everyday, people are increasingly finding new products from brands they love.”

The company noted that a recent survey found that Instagrammers often watch stories to stay in-the-know with brands they are interested in, as well as to get an insider view of products they like and find out about new products that resonate with them. Users will be able to shop select brands via Instagram Stories with more brands coming soon to the platform, it said in the press release.

Expanding upon its in-app commerce efforts, Instagram quietly introduced in May a native payments feature. With the new functionality, users can register a credit or debit card and make payments within the social media platform after setting up a security PIN, TechCrunch reported. A spokesperson for Instagram told TechCrunch at the time that users can now make payments to a limited number of businesses, such as restaurants and salons. Users can make in-app payments through the Instagram pages of some of Resy’s clients, for example. In the future, Instagram said it would allow users to pay for items such as movie tickets.