TechCrunch: Instagram Tests Shoppable Photo Tags

Instagram’s simple user experience just got a little more complex. According to a recent TechCrunch article, Instagram will start showing shoppable tags on photos from certain retails brands to US users on iOS. Now when scrolling through your feed, you don’t have to interrupt your viewing to shop by opening up a browser window.

Retailers will tag products in photos which will not be shown until you click on a “Tap to view products” button. Once you’ve selected a product to view, you will be taken to an in-app details page where you can continue on to a “Shop Now” button to purchase via the web.

Instagram’s VP of monetization James Quarles said that the company plans to eventually monetize the shoppable tags by giving brands the option to show to people who don’t currently follow them. With 500,000 advertisers currently on board with Instagram, this could be an opoortunity for some serious cash.

The company does not have any plans to let users buy products inside of the platform like Facebook and even Pinterest have been trying out.

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