Retailers must grab golden Instagram opportunity, Tryzens

News that Instagram is spreading its 'shoppable' tags to eight other countries following a year-long trial in the US, has been welcomed by e-commerce venture, Tryzens. According to its CEO, Andy Burton, although the opportunities presented by social media have been underexploited by the retail sector in Europe to date, this new development offers a golden opportunity to reach a larger share of the market and increase customer loyalty.

He comments: “The challenge is that it can be difficult to tempt Instagram’s users off the site and therefore convert ‘likes’ into sales. The introduction of ‘shoppable’ tags solves this issue by removing friction from transactions. This could provide an important tool in the kit-bag of retailers looking to extend market reach, build awareness in the market and simplify conversion for consumers who are face so much choice online. By working with Instagram, retailers will be able to reach the largest possible audience, who can purchase an item in a matter of seconds due to advancements in simplified payments on websites from the likes of Apple Pay, Android Pay, and PayPal."

As more celebrities and influencers start featuring products, a curated Instagram feed is set to become an essential ‘converting’ marketing channel. But when a post's lifespan can only be a few hours long, being agile enough to monetise on its value is key.  Solution providers such as Amplience, with its UGC (User Generated Content) Module product offering, allow retailers to import content from Instagram and quickly roll it out to the live site. UGC modules, paired with buyable posts and the proportion of mobile device visitors has the potential to drive an increase in mobile conversion, where many retailers have found themselves struggling.

Burton concludes: “There is logical excitement around Instagram's 'shoppable' content and I am sure we will see further advances in the market as whole as additional ways to connect user and brand generated content with an intuitive, immersive and efficient shopping experience come to the fore.  Making the social commerce experience as easy and seamless as possible is critical to increasing conversions. However, retailers need to ensure that their support systems and back end operations are fit for the social media revolution – by which I mean being able to respond to enquiries in near real-time, engage with consumers in the right tone of voice, and ensure orders are fulfilled effectively requiring a single view of customer, single view of stock and single view of inventory to be truly agile.”