
Social influencers see stardom potential on LinkedIn and Pinterest (FB) Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on an analyst call last month. “It’s early days for shopping on Instagram, but we’re excited about this over the long run,” Facebook More than 130 million users every month tap Instagram posts to see shopping product tags. Instagram says that 80% of the app’s users follow a business. Shopping off Instagram could be a $10 billion market by 2021, according to Deutsche Bank, and the platform allows brands to woo shoppers beyond their own websites, brick-and-mortar stores and Amazon WeChat, the dominant messaging platform in China, has been successful getting shoppers to purchase off the app. Instagram’s strategy resembles the popular social media app WeChat in China, said Lipsman. “The consumer is using Instagram to research our products, connect with friends to get recommendations about our products, and ultimately buy.” “Our consumer spends a ton of time on Instagram,” said Emily Maxey, vice president of marketing at Adidas. Companies like Adidas say they are taking advantage of the new tool by launching new sneakers and clothes on Instagram. These companies see an untapped market to sell their merchandise directly to their large Instagram followings. Instagram’s efforts to transform into a shopping hub have enticed some brands. Instagram launched long-form video last year. “Instagram is starting to help fill that need for shoppers.” “What the internet hasn’t been particularly good at is solving for discovery and window shopping,” said Andrew Lipsman, analyst at eMarketer. That’s because browsing to find clothing is challenging on Amazon or retailers’ websites and apps, where shoppers often have to scroll through dozens of pages and hundreds of products. This type of hunt can often be frustrating for customers online. Instagram is a useful tool for shoppers to easily discover a curated mix of clothing from brands and celebrities, experts say.

And shoppers can buy looks that Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian West and other celebrities wear on their Instagram feeds directly through their posts. Instagram has also added tools that allow customers to shop items on its Stories and Explore pages. That was an irritation for customers, analysts say. Previously, shoppers had to leave Instagram when they found a product on the app and buy it off retailers’ websites. In March, Instagram introduced a new checkout option that allows customers to purchase products directly off a handful of companies’ pages within its app. Photo Illustration: Shutterstock / Nike Women / Instagram Shoppable ads are currently in beta on the platform, but we expect that they will play a major role in future growth.Instagram Checkout. Newly introduced ads in different parts of the app, like the “Discover” tab, open up more inventory for advertisers.

We expect the social media platform to generate $9.45 billion in ad revenues in 2019, and grow 46.6% to $13.86 billion in 2020. “Instagram is doing really well-it is the second-most internet-penetrated social media platform in the US behind Facebook, and despite increased pressure from competition, we expect it to maintain its second-place position with a good gap from the rest of the platforms,” said Nazmul Islam, junior forecasting analyst at eMarketer.Īdditionally, Instagram’s ad revenues continue to grow at high double-digit rates. However, we don’t anticipate that this group will change substantially in the coming years, as increased competition from a Snapchat resurgence and the rise of TikTok will make it harder for Instagram to maintain high growth. While older users will not be growing as fast, there have been larger-than-expected gains in US users ages 25 to 34, at 11.4%.
