After a year-long trial in the US, Instagram is spreading its ‘shoppable’ tags to eight other countries in advance of a potential global rollout.

This new feature allows users to shop directly by using virtual price tags that are overlaid onto posts.

Shoppers can tap on these tags to view pop-ups containing the name of the product and pricing information, along with a link to the brand’s storefront.

This is useful as it allows users to stay within the Instagram app rather than exit it to browse a catalogue. Transactions will still need to be carried out on the storefront.

During the year-long trial in the US, shoppable tags had become quite popular, with 80 percent of the app’s users having followed shopping businesses.

At present, Shopping on Instagram posts can be viewed directly in your regular feed, via a search for the brand’s business profile, or through a direct message or a notification – and shopping posts are specifically marked with a little ‘shopping bag’ icon. Over time, it’s been suggested that Instagram could let businesses promote shoppable tags to help consumers find specific products or new brands they may be interested in.

Instagram has seen massive growth in recent years, and if your business is heavily invested in social media, this is an excellent opportunity to improve conversion rates.

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