It just got even easier to shop on the 'gram: Starting today, with the addition of a new Checkout feature, users in the U.S. can shop for products from brands directly on the app. Now, instead of clicking on a product tag (the little shopping bag icon in Stories and grid) and being directed off-platform to buy it, you'll instead have the option to "Checkout on Instagram." From here, just choose your size and color, enter your email, billing information or Paypal, and address (which will be stored securely for future purchases), and place the order. You'll be notified when it ships and delivers right inside the app. Basically, shopping on your phone just went from taking five minutes to more like two and a half.
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So far, this feature is available across more than 20 brands — including H&M, Dior, Kylie Cosmetics, Revolve, Uniqlo, Warby Parker, and Zara — with more coming soon. Before Checkout, the shopping experience was less streamlined, prompting users to leave the platform for the transaction, which resulted in lost interest and engagement in the process. (Raise your hand if you've ever clicked on a product with the intention of buying it and then gave up once you were directed to the vendor's site because you didn't feel like entering your information.) While this Checkout feature currently only lets you buy single items at a time, a spokesperson for Instagram told BuzzFeed that we might see a multi-item shopping cart in our futures.
Since last fall, Instagram has continued to develop its on-platform shopping experience — with the addition of shopping on Stories and the Shopping collection within the Saved folder (especially useful for when you want to save an item featured in a Story before it disappears). Today, more than 130 million people tap product tags in shopping posts every month (up from 90 million in September) — which is good news for direct-to-consumer brands looking to catch eyes on the grid. So if you weren't already addicted to your IG, good luck staying that way. But if in the middle of the shopping you're doing you need a little IG detox (and who doesn't from time to time?), here are our tips for keeping your Instagram decluttered and organized.