Instagram Users, Get Ready to Shop via Reels

Instagram is continuously making advances to make its platform available for e-commerce. Two months after its launch, IG reels will soon change into an income-yielding format.

Its parent company Facebook announced today that it would start conducting preliminary tests to make its newest video-sharing venture into a virtual mall. Similarly, IGTV videos will now feature shoppable content beginning today.

At present, the app features its sole shopping page called “Instagram Shop,” which it launched in July this year. 

The feature aims to make shopping more seamless in the app, supported by the “Facebook Pay.” 

Similarly, it also targets to create easy transactions while using the social media platform without having to exit here and there to make commercial purchases.

This new feature will further set it aside from other leading social media platforms such as Twitter, which currently holds limited influence for e-commerce.

Market enthusiasts are not surprised by the abrupt development but admitted that the timeline from the initial launch to another uncertain venture might be too short to consider.

However, Instagram is currently leveraging the booming business in online shopping now that the pandemic made consumers realize the imperatives of technology.

Virtual shopping made an unprecedented rise in recent months, with the world’s leading e-commerce platforms recording high sales since the start of the lockdowns.

Facebook also capitalized on its significant market position to join the bandwagon. Even before the pandemic, the social media app has invested resources to make its interface commerce-friendly.

It boasts the Marketplace, one of the leading C2C platforms that do not use third-party apps.

According to reports, the Nasdaq giant plants expand its Marketplace to introduce business-to-consumer or B2C scheme, but right now, it is still in the early stages of development.

Zuckerberg’s E-Commerce Plans, Twitter Looks the Other Way

In long-term prospects, the CEO of the two firms Mark Zuckerberg said that e-commerce and payments are the future of his company.

The incumbent development asserts the leader’s willingness to drive monetary yields from its social networking platforms.

The latest change on Reels is another appeal to creators who are already using the platforms to their respective online shops and exclusive merch stores as users can now tag specific products on their video contents, leading them straight to check out.

With this, Facebook is looking to make Instagram as another central part of its online business.

Meanwhile, Twitter does not seem to have the appetite to join the growing e-commerce market.

Today, the microblogging site launched what it termed as “Birdwatch,” a moderation tool designed to curb misleading propaganda and misinformation generated from users’ tweets.

The product’s details are currently kept from the public’s knowledge, including how it might work and its final interface.

Birdwatch is currently still in the early stages of development and is set to enter into force weeks before the US November elections.

Although much about the secretive new feature is still unknown, some users leaked information about its role on Twitter. 

This includes the moderators’ ability to flag tweets, vote on the extent of the information’s authenticity, and add a note about it.