Instagram recently introduced shoppable posts, and we are excited.

Amy Cole, head of business development at Instagram, suggests its success will be rooted in the fact that it takes a lot of “friction” out of shopping and will make it more native, enjoyable and fluid.

Let’s assume that you are a brand/business selling tangible products. You have an Instagram business profile, and you have followers.

In terms of being a contemporary, and visually appealing social network, Instagram leads the way, with it being based almost solely on visual content. It’s a surprise to us that this feature hasn’t been introduced sooner.

Your followers have actively signed up to follow you and therefore show ongoing interest in what you have to offer alongside the story you tell. They are your potential brand ambassadors, and therefore to offer your products to them in a non-intrusive way via the Instagram app.

Let’s take a quick glimpse at how this looks in practice. Posts appear as normal, and products only appear once the image is tapped/clicked, like you would be accustomed to clicking on to see people or brands tagged on an Instagram post.

If you see a product you like, you can click through to a dedicated page native to the Instagram app, with more detailed product info.

Check out Ted Baker’s good clean example of how to use Instagram Shopping Tags. Hover to interact with image, click to go to Ted Baker’s Instagram to see more examples.