Shoppable Instagram stories and a personalized Shopping channel in the Explore feature give brands the opportunity to engage consumers in a whole new way

After a limited test in June, Instagram has announced a global launch of in-app shopping features through product tags in Instagram stories and a Shopping channel in the app’s Explore feature.

An article in TechCrunch detailed the Facebook-owned social media platform’s foray into online sales, noting that retail businesses will be able to track how many taps their shopping stickers in stories get as well as how many users tapped through to their website. Partnerships with Shopify and BigCommerce will make the features accessible for retailers of all sizes.

Instagram’s Explore section of the app will house the Shopping feature with its other topic channels that launched Like Art, Beauty, Fashion, Sports and For You that launched in June. TechCrunch notes the Explore algorithm will show shopping-tagged posts from businesses users follow and ones they might like based on who they follow and what shopping content engages them.

Read the full story here.

Image courtesy of Instagram.