Instagram Shopping: Driving Ecommerce Growth - Case Studies & Global Availability

In March, BigCommerce merchants were among the first to gain access to Instagram’s new product tagging capabilities — built specifically for ecommerce brands — which significantly enhance product discovery on the platform.

Today, Shopping on Instagram is now available for online stores based in the following countries:

1. Australia.
2. Brazil.
3. Canada.
4. France.
5. Germany.
6. Italy.
7. Spain.
8. United Kingdom.
9. United States.
10. Sweden.
11. Netherlands.
12. Argentina.
13. Mexico.
14. New Zealand.
15. Switzerland.
16. Puerto Rico.
17. Ireland.
18. South Africa.
19. Belgium.
20. Austria.
21. Peru.
22. Uruguay.
23. Paraguay.
24. Malta.
25. Ecuador.
26. Panama.
27. Portugal.
28. Poland.
29. Greece.
30. Cyprus.
31. Denmark.
32. Czech Republic.
33. Romania.
34. Norway.
35. Hungary.
36. Bulgaria.
37. Croatia.
38. Finland.
39. Latvia.
40. Lithuania.
41. Slovenia.
42. Luxembourg.
43. Dominican Republic.
44. Belize.

To use the feature, brands need only to push their inventory to Facebook (you can make this visible or not to your Facebook audience).

See Native Union’s Facebook shop.

After doing so, the Shopping on Instagram toggle should appear in less than 2 weeks.

Need to Know

Currently, Facebook is restricting Shopping on Instagram to merchants who sell physical goods in select product categories that fit their Privacy Policy.

The fastest way to get ready to sell on Instagram is to get your store approved by Facebook Shop.

Once approved, you will see a message within your Instagram app guiding you to connect your Facebook Product Catalog to tag products on your Instagram posts.

Early adopters of the technology are reporting increased traffic and sales from Instagram as a result of the tagging capability.

But what about Instagram is so unique – and how should you adopt this channel as part of a larger strategy?

Let’s dive in to get:

1. The background
2. The stats
3. 80+ examples

80 Shopping on Instagram Examples

You don’t have to go digging around the internet for Shopping on Instagram examples. So, we did it for you.

You’ll get to:

• Explore more than 80 real examples of Instagram Shopping in the wild, no more stalking to see who is doing what
• Draw inspiration to educate your own posts and your own strategy. Some folks are seeing as much as a 1,416% increase in sales and traffic!

Request your examples.

 

Why Instagram Shopping?

Instagram has been the de-facto platform for visual storytelling for years.

It is lauded by consumers and brands alike for its unique focus on beautiful photography and videography, which collectively serve as vignettes into the lives, and lifestyles, of their creators.

With shoppable posts, customers have even greater opportunity to connect with the brands they love through the ability to quickly see relevant information — like product descriptions and pricing — with a single click without ever having to leave the Instagram app.

Additionally, once they’ve found an item to purchase, shoppable posts automatically provide links to corresponding product pages on your website so that customers can quickly add to cart and check out, or browse the remainder of your catalog.

Build an Engaged Community with Shopping on Instagram:

If you want to increase ROI on Instagram – or any channel for that matter – figure out how to use the platform the way consumers use it.

If you’re salesy, people are going hate you.

But, if you’re engaging, it will go a long way in terms of bringing you real, lasting customers.

– William Harris, CEO, Elumynt

Instagram Statistics Businesses Should Know

More than 800,000 shoppers use Instagram every month, and brands around the world are using the platform to share their stories and products with consumers in a visually engaging way.

When it comes to Instagram, ecommerce businesses by and large recommend the platform.

Whether you are advertising, building an audience or both – Instagram has fueled hundreds of thousands in sales.

Here’s why.

• 800M — Number of monthly active Instagram users.
• 500M — Number of daily active users
  • Increased from 400M to 500M since March 2017
• 5X — Instagram growth rate compared to overall social network usage in the U.S. (Source: Inc.)
• 25 — Percent more likely it is that Instagram users are in the top income quartile than average Internet users. (Source: GlobalWebIndex)
• 5M —  Number of active Instagram business profiles (Source: Facebook)
• 60 — Percent of people who say they discover new products on Instagram (Source:  Instagram)
• 70 — Percent of users who follow a business on Instagram (Source: Instagram)
• 75 — Percent of users who take an action after seeing a business post (i.e. visit a website, search, shop or tell a friend) (Source: Instagram)
• 500,000 — Instagram advertisers (Source: Facebook)
• 150M— Number of daily active Instagram Stories users just 5 months after launch (Source: Instagram)
• 33 — Percent of the most-viewed Instagram Stories that come from business accounts (Source: Instagram)
• 36 — Percent of B2C brands that consider Instagram to be “very important” or “critical” to their social media marketing, compared to 13% of B2B brands (Source: Inc.)

The Risk of Not Using Shopping on Instagram:

If you think about it, there is an obvious risk if you don’t have a shoppable Instagram.

For example, if a customer sees an item they like on the platform, but there’s no way for them to buy the item or link to your site, you risk losing that sale.

– Tara Johnson, Lead Reporter – Retail, Tinuiti

How to Start Using Shopping on Instagram

The rest of this article will walk you through the best-practice advice and revenue stats seen by brands using Shopping on Instagram.

But, this is an Instagram feature — which likely means you don’t need stats or stories to convince you to to start using it.

So, here’s how to get it for your brand right now.

1. Make sure your Instagram app on your phone is updated.

Go to your phone settings and update the app if it is not. If you do not see any Instagram Shopping tags, this is because your app on your phone is not updated.

2. Make sure your product catalog is synced with Facebook Shop.

Instagram pulls your Facebook product feed through – and you can connect your store with Facebook using BigCommerce’s Channel Manager.

3. Click the options tab on your Instagram business profile, scroll down to products and click.

You’ll then be taken through a series of screens introducing you to the product.

4. Authenticate your Instagram business account via your Facebook account.

The product will take you to this next step immediately.

This is how Instagram knows what products you have. If you have not connected your store to Facebook Shop, do that now (step #2).

Choose the product catalog you want to sync with Instagram for Instagram Shopping.

5. Upload your product photo.

Now that you’re set up, go to upload a photo as you normally would.

Then, on the caption page, you now have the options to tag people *and* products.

6. Tag your products.

Select “tag products” and tap on the photo to tag products, the way you would if you were tagging a person.

In the search bar, type the name of the product in the photo. Select the product you are tagging and then move the tag on the photo to the correct spot.

Instagram will pull in all product catalog information from Facebook, including a link back to your site from the photo.

Again, go back to step #2 if this isn’t working for you. You can add up to 5 product tags per photo.

7. Hit share and your post with your shoppable tagged products is live!

It is now time to reap the benefits of shoppable Instagram posts!

Instagram Shoppable Posts Increased Traffic 1,416%

More than 50 brands have been using Shopping on Instagram since before it’s Fall 2017 release.

We’ve followed up with these beta brands to understand how the solution continues to work for them.

We wanted to know a few things:

1. If it was easy to use for the brands themselves.
2. If their fans and customers like it.
3. And, most importantly, if it increased engagement and revenue.

Below, you’ll find the successes of 5 brands using the feature prior to public availability.

Examples Of Businesses Who Have Had Success With Instagram Shopping:

1. Natori: Increased Instagram traffic by 1,416%.

2. Magnolia Boutique: 20% increase in Instagram revenue.

3. Native Union: Instagram traffic was a 2,666% increase.

4. Watches.com: Announcing feature via email.

5. Marucci: Easy implementation.

1. Natori: 1,416% increase in Instagram traffic.

• # of posts with tagged products at time of writing: 61
• Increase in traffic from Instagram: 1,416% WoW
• Increase in revenue from Instagram: 100% WoW

Instagram Shopping Promotion + Best Practices from Natori:

“We announced the availability of Instagram Shopping on Twitter and Facebook. Overall, it has increased our traffic, the integration was quick and tagging is easy,” says Colin Talbot, Digital Marketing Manager, Natori.

“We can’t wait for the teams to offer increased analytics and the ability to tag both products and people in the same post.”

2. Magnolia Boutique: 20% increase in Instagram revenue.

• # of posts with tagged products at time of writing: 117
• Increase in traffic from Instagram: 4% WoW
• Increase in revenue from Instagram: 20% WoW

Instagram Shopping Promotion + Best Practices from Magnolia Boutique:

“To promote it, we included specific instruction on how to shop our feed in our email blasts. Did an Instagram Live video telling people about the debut of Instagram Shopping. We also included instructions in the posts in our feed, had several Instagram stories reminding people to shop our feed and cross-promoted on other social media channels.”

“In all, I’d recommend Instagram Shopping to other online brands. It makes shopping easier for our Instagram fans. We get many questions from people asking how to shop our items, and this makes that process easier.”

“My best piece of advice is that, since this is very new, it is important to provide instructions and to cross-promote. Making sure your product feed is updated is very important,” says Susan DelPriore, Magnolia Boutique.

3. Native Union: 2,662% increase in Instagram traffic.

• # of posts with tagged products at time of writing: 9
• Increase in traffic from Instagram: 2,662% MoM
• Increase in revenue from Instagram: 100% MoM

4. Watches.com: Still fine-tuning their approach.

• # of posts with tagged products at time of writing: 1
• Increase in traffic from Instagram: None yet
• Increase in revenue from Instagram: None yet

5. Marucci: Easy to implement.

• # of posts with tagged products at time of writing: 3
• Increase in traffic from Instagram: None yet
• Increase in revenue from Instagram: None yet

Shopping on Instagram Tips:

1. Alert your customers to the new feature via email or Instagram stories.

2. Start tagging all of your products to build an expected behavior.

3. Track results in your analytics via the l.instagram option.  

How to Measure Instagram Shopping Success

Do you want to see similar results to the stats and stories above?

Great – then you need to know how to find how your Instagram Shopping tags are performing.

To do that, you have 2 options:

1. On Instagram: Under your post analytics, there are Instagram Analytics on your click-thru on Instagram Shopping as well as to your site.
2. Your BigCommerce Analytics: If you are using the new analytics, then under Marketing >> click on Social >> click on Instagram >> measure l.instagram revenue and traffic week over week (or month over month) to see how much Shopping has worked. You can even make sure BC and Instagram Analytics are showing similar #s based on visits.

Faster Checkout Equals More Sales with Shopping on Instagram:

I’m actually quite excited to try Shopping on Instagram out for myself. I love how seamlessly integrated it is and how you can showcase the product and price upfront. Many consumers want to know as much about the product before they head to buy.

In a world where many people have a short attention span, this HELPS!

– Nancy Badillo, Digital Marketing Specialist, NancyBadillo.com.

Instagram Shopping in Stories

According to Instagram, consumers are rapidly adopting Instagram Stories as a new way to visually communicate and connect, with more than 300M accounts now using stories on a daily basis.

In a recent survey, people said they often watch stories to stay in the know with brands they’re interested in, get an insider view of products they like, and find out about new products that are relevant to them.

People are highly engaged with stories produced by businesses, and product stickers makes shopping easier by providing quick access to information on multiple products without going off-site.

One in 3 of the most viewed Stories are from businesses, and more than 1 in 3 people surveyed across BR, ID, the UK and the US say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Instagram Stories.

To account for this uptick in Story activity and make it easier for brands and consumers to build long-term relationships, Instagram is launching Shopping in Stories.

What is Instagram Shopping in Stories?

Starting June 12, 2018, Instagram will be bringing shopping on Instagram into stories, and will start by testing product stickers with a shopping icon.

Select businesses participating in the test will be able to create up to 3 product stickers per Instagram story, and can use stickers with swipe-up, highlights, and videos.

When people see stickers with a shopping icon, they can tap to see more information in the product details page, and go to the businesses’ website.

This feature is currently in testing, and will become broadly available to shopping businesses in the coming months.

We will keep you updated here for more information. In the meantime, here are a few Instagram Shopping in Stories FAQs.

How should businesses think about shopping in stories vs feed?

Both feed and stories are great places for businesses to reach customers, and Instagram knows that people often become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it on Instagram.

In general, you should use both features and functionalities. People turn to Instagram Stories when they want to see behind the scenes content or get an insiders view of products they might like.

Will Instagram bring shopping to feed videos?

There are no plans for this feature from Instagram at this time.

Is this available to all businesses?

At this time, it’s available to a limited set of businesses that use shopping on Instagram.

Who can see the shopping stickers in stories?

All consumers globally can view and interact with the shopping stickers.

How did Instagram select the test participants?

Instagram selected a range of brands from around the world that have been using Instagram in creative ways to reach their community.

What does Instagram hope to learn from the test?

This is the first iteration of shopping in stories, and both Instagram and BigCommerce are really excited to see how people engage.

Instagram will be monitoring to ensure that the sticker is easy to engage with and easy for businesses to use.

Will shopping come to other parts of Instagram (Direct, Explore)?

Instagram is always thinking about how they can evolve shopping on Instagram but have nothing to share at this time.

When will shopping in stories be available to more businesses?

There is no timeline to share at this time. Check back frequently for additional updates.