Instagram opening advanced shopping feature to influencers

Instagram will soon allow both businesses and creators to utilize its Shopping feature, meaning brands and influencers will have a greater ability to reach a customer base.

According to Instagram, the change will go live on July 9 in every country that supports Instagram Shopping, and will require businesses and influencers to link to a single website that they own and sell from.

“This update will give more businesses the power to sell on Instagram, and help our thriving creator community turn their passion into a living,” Facebook Australia director of sales Naomi Shepherd said.

“Businesses of all kinds will now have access to our shopping tools, which is especially important in light of the economic challenges many are facing this year.”

The update comes just two months after Instagram opened the doors for food retailers to sell on the platform by way of meal ordering platforms such as UberEats, Deliveroo or Doordash, and just one month after Facebook announced it was overhauling the shopping experience for brands and customers alike with Facebook Shops.

The offering will let brands sell directly to customers through Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp through “shopfronts”, as well as offer brands a new way to sell products through Facebook Live.

“It almost feels like they underplayed what it actually is,” retail strategist Salena Knight said at the time.

“Up until now, it’s been quite difficult for a lot of businesses that aren’t at the enterprise level to be able to get that omnichannel, seamless experience across platforms. And now they’re able to offer that across Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook. [It wasn’t] something I was expecting.

“I certainly didn’t expect it for free.”