Instagram launched a brand new ecommerce checkout feature for more than 20 top brands – including Kylie Cosmetics, Nike, Uniqlo and Warbly Parker. The checkout button on Twitter was not a success story, but Instagram has true potential. Why?
From my own experience I follow brands to get inspiration about shoes, watches or fashion styles. I also started to buy things based on instagram advertising, but I found it hard to connect from a nice fashion image to the web shop for ordering it. The new feature will allow me to make an order without learning the app. Smart.
What does this mean for merchandisers, digital marketers or e-commerce managers and their PIM / MDM?
Publishing an engaging image will now elevate from a branding to a conversation factor and measure-able revenue driver. A question to answer is: how much information will a customer need inside the Instagram app to take a purchasing decision? Am insta-style image, size, price will be basic requirements. What about other details like a size guide, fabric information?
The value of Product Information Management (PIM) for Omnichannel customer experience was always providing the flexibility to brands and retailers managing their full assortment and reacting to new sales and marketing channels needs with channel specific outputs. Companies now have to align what images and fields are needed to export to the Facebook/ Instagram business manager and the product catalog. As on FB, I expect Instagram will communicate an API for this as well.
Instagram just requires you to
- Have the FB/ Insta Businessmanager and a product catalog.
- only offer physical products
- have an instagram business account
Here is the guide provided by Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/business/instagram/shopping
What is next?
The next phase after selling is obviously connecting the dots even better: Which customer has shown what interest, what products have this customer purchased, what is the next logical offer to this customer. This requires companies to elevate their PIM platform to a full master data management (MDM) use by connecting products, bundles, customers and more to take customer experience to the next level.
Data Talks 