Instagram Checkout: IG Just Got More Shoppable

Over 130 million users interact with Shopping posts, or posts with product tags, on the popular
photo-sharing app each month, making Instagram marketing a necessity for e-commerce
retailers.

And things have just gotten better – this new feature now lets you send users straight to
Instagram Checkout, making the buying process faster and more seamless.

What is Checkout and why should you use it?

Instagram introduced Checkout in March 2019, raising the stakes for the platform’s Shopping feature. IG users no longer have to be transferred to browser to complete a purchase –checkout-enabled products in Shoppable posts or Stories will send users straight to Checkout on the app.

This new feature enhances customer experience by offering a shorter and more secure path to checkout, thereby fast tracking and simplifying the buying process.

Checkout also allows for order cancellations, returns, or requests for support.

Here are some other things you need to know about this nifty feature:

• All product tags now use Checkout. Businesses that cater to customers in the United States will no longer be able to tag products using links to their external site. Customers will instead be directed to the Checkout.

However, businesses with international customers will still be able to link to products on their site.

• The feature only covers products priced in U.S. dollars. Products with price tags in foreign currencies will link to your external site.
• Businesses that use the Checkout feature will be subject to the platform’s merchant terms and commerce policies on inventory, customer service, shipping, and returns and refunds.

So why should you use it? The reason is simple – considering the sheer number of active users on the platform and their motivations for using Instagram, you could lose out on potential revenue by not leveraging Checkout.

According to Instagram Business, the platform has more than 800 million active users – and 80% of them follow at least one business on the app.

Statista predicts that IG will generate $6.8 billion in global revenues in Q4 2020 – higher than the projected global revenue of $3.3 billion in Q4 2019.

60% of users have discovered new products on IG.

eMarketer found that 11% of IG users shop or search for products on the app.

​A Facebook survey has also found that 62% of users have become more interested in a product after seeing it in Stories, a format that the social network has adopted.

What Checkout means for your business

When used correctly, IG’s Checkout could have a positive impact on your bottom line by minimising the incidence of cart abandonment.
In a quantitative study, the Baymard Institute found that the most common reason for cart abandonment among online shoppers in the United States – 58.6% of respondents – have abandoned a cart within the last three months was that they were just browsing or that they were not ready to buy.

The study also discovered that the majority of online shoppers will abandon their carts before initiating checkout flow.

Moreover, 23% reported abandoning an order within the previous quarter because they found the checkout process too long or too complicated.

These findings make it imperative for businesses to establish a quick and secure path that takes users from browsing or window shopping to checkout.

Businesses will also be happy to know that IG users are ready to take action once they do see a product they want. A 2018 Facebook study found that:

• 46% of respondents made an online or in-store purchase after seeing the product on IG
• 87% took some form of action after seeing a product on IG, with 79% searching for more product information, 65% visiting the brand’s official site or app, and 37% visiting a store.

How to incorporate Checkout into your business

• Check your eligibility. Checkout is only available in select countries in North America (NA), Latin America (LATAM), Asia Pacific (APAC), and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Click here to see covered territories. Moreover, only businesses that sell physical goods can use the feature.

Checkout also requires users to have a business account, link their account to a Facebook page, and comply with IG’s e-commerce policies.

• Connect to a Facebook catalogue. You can connect to an existing catalogue or create a new one with Catalogue Manager. If you need support and guidance, you can connect to Facebook Catalogue through a Facebook Partner.
• Sign up for Shopping. After connecting to catalogue, you’ll have to register for Shopping on IG. From your profile’s settings, go to Business and then to Instagram Shopping. Your account will be under review for at least a few days, but once approved, you will receive a notification, after which you can finish setting up your account.
• Tag products in posts and stories. You should be able to start tagging products once you’ve finished signing up for IG Shopping. To do this, simply create a regular post and click “Tag Products” to include an item from the catalogue.

Each image or video can feature a maximum of five items, while multi-image posts can feature up 20. Every IG story can include one product sticker. You can also go over the oldest posts to add shopping tags.

• Gauge performance. Visit the Insights Tab to find out how your posts and stories are performing.

Checkout is a powerful tool that can potentially help business owners resolve cart abandonment issues and offer customers a convenient way of completing purchases.

Contevo is here to help you take advantage of Instagram Checkout, along with the app’s various formats and features. Our business philosophy, “Continuous Evolution”, is about keeping track of the latest developments in social media marketing and finding ways to help our clients benefit from those developments.