Instagram on Tuesday debuted a new ‘checkout’ button that will let users buy products tagged for sale without leaving the platform. It is the photo and video sharing platform’s first foray into e-commerce. For now, the feature is limited to users in the US who use the beta version of the app, and around 20 brands. Instagram has partnered with brands such as Adidas, H&M, Kylie Cosmetics and Michael Kors to ease into what is firmly Amazon and Walmart territory. It did not specify any financial details of its partnerships but said it would introduce a selling fee to help fund transaction-related expenses. ‘Shopping’ introduced a year ago A year ago, Instagram made it possible for users in the US to “shop” posts in their feeds, according to Wired. The platform already has more than 130 million users in the US tapping to reveal product tags in shopping posts every month, up from 90 million in September, it said. But buying these items currently requires users to leave the app or website, an annoyance that the new ‘checkout’ feature aims to eliminate. With the latest beta, users will be able to view a product, pick a size or colour, and buy it with minimal hassle. Instagram counts more than a billion users on its platform every month — 75 million from India — and it has a detailed dossier on each of them, including which brands they follow, the categories that interest them, and which ads their eyeballs linger on,…
