If you’re anything like me, scrolling through your Instagram feed triggers an impulse to buy. A nice pair of jeans, a cool bag, a stylish pair of glasses, the perfect phone case—I see beautiful product shots and immediately start hunting for details on where to buy them. But as natural a fit as shopping from an Instagram image seems to be, the network has always made it incredibly difficult. Even if the user tags the image with the manufacturer’s Instagram handle, tracking down the exact product is an exercise in futility. That’s about to change.
Instagram is testing a way to shop products directly from an image starting on iOS next week. Twenty U.S. brands, including Target, Levi’s, Kate Spade, and Macy’s, will be able to include buying details with their Instagram posts. How it works: Each image will include a new “tap to view” icon on the bttom left. When you tap, tags will appear on the image with names and prices for up to five products. Tap on the tag to pop into a more detailed description of the product while remaining inside Instagram. To actually buy something, tap “Shop now,” which will open a link to the product in Safari.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
