-Laura Blaszczyk
Companies have been using social media to market their products and gain more brand presence. Leveraging digital technology has helped apparel companies to adapt to the changing landscape of the retail industry. More specifically, apparel companies have to find new ways to sell their products because the old store front model is becoming more outdated. Amazon has disrupted the retail industry in a way that makes it difficult for others to compete. Using Instagram, a platform the consumer already spends a significant amount of time on, may give retailers a competitive edge against Amazon. By introducing the simplicity of a few clicks to order products through the Instagram app, companies can gain customers they might not have otherwise with relatively low risk involved. I am curious however with the emergence of this new feature, will the feed be filled with sponsored or marketing content instead of content from the people I actually know? If this happens, will it push users away or will it build the user base and increase the engagement with the app?
Source:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-encroaches-on-amazon-with-new-shopping-feature-11552996800
Really interesting post Laura. I have been noticing retails store for (example J.Crew) post a lot of advertising post with links to their products. I personally don’t mind these types of post, if anything I think this is a very innovative and creative way to promote there products. I think the post gives the retail store a very easy and organic way to promote their products compared to stock images where you would typically see on amazon or any traditional e-commerce website. Retail stores can also take advantage of social media influencers to links to products as well. I think with social media and the way they are today, It can really disrupt markets where Amazon has been always dominating.
This is interesting to me as someone who has spent time working with social media marketing strategies. I spent a lot of time looking through innovative campaigns in the Cannes Lion (the creative ad industry’s most biggest occasion), and brands have been using social’s secondary features to make it a sales channel even before this, and they saw a material boost in sales. Stories and the Instagram tagging are great features for use as e-commerce.
This development seems like a natural evolution. However, from a consumer perspective, it does pose the question of where Instagram will be moving its ad revenue model. Over-saturation is something advertisers do not want, but the tipping point hasn’t been reached yet.