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Instagram is the latest social network that seeks a transition to e-commerce. This is how the platform will work
We are all familiar with commerce through Instagram. We know brands and independent sellers that use this platform to market their products and interact with their customers. But up to this date, there was no way to make purchases through the same application, it was necessary to use the integrated browser to complete the order. This process resulted in frustration and lost sales, so the company decided to integrate the purchase process through the application without any major upheaval.
Leer en español: ¿Te gustaría poder comprar lo que ves en Instagram? Pronto podría ser posible
Now it will be possible to store your payment information, including your credit card, to make purchases immediately on Instagram. In return, sellers must pay a fee to the platform.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder, and CEO of Facebook, the company that owns Instagram, said earlier this month that commerce would be one of the keys to a new business plan for its three main services: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
However, the only one of the three platforms that will enable means of payment for digital commerce at the moment will be Instagram.
Last year, Instagram stated that it was developing a separate application just for purchases. It is not yet known if this progress means that the plans for a new application have been abandoned.
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For the launch of this new service, it is expected the participation of more than 20 brands in the United States, among which are: Nike, Adidas, H & M, MAC, Uniqlo, and Zara.
The launch is only the testing phase for the purchasing service and the details of when and if it will be launched globally aren't yet known.
Currently, Instagram has more than 1,000 million monthly users. Since it also has detailed information about each one's interests, including which brands it follows and with which public figures it interacts, the application has the capacity to offer products of interest to its users and guide them through the purchase process. The services of the competition, like Amazon, do not have such detailed records of its users, which makes Instagram an attractive tool for brands.
Facing the privacy dilemma
Faced with the questioning of Facebook for its use and marketing of its users' data, and following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company is looking for a new direction that will lead it to distance itself from the public sphere.
In a 3.200-word blog post, Mark Zuckerberg outlined some of the changes he plans to bring to Facebook.
"When I think about the future of the internet, I believe that communication platforms focused on privacy will become even more important than today's open platforms", he said.
As part of this strategy, the end-to-end encryption that we see today in applications such as WhatsApp, which guarantees that only those who send and receive a message can read it, will become a standard across all Facebook platforms.
Zuckerberg's statements, as well as the manifestation of a new business plan with privacy in the center, demonstrate the urgency that Facebook has to change its reputation. The promise to encrypt all communications through its platforms will play in their favor to negotiate with European Union regulators, who have shown strong opposition to Facebook's data usage policies.
LatinAmerican Post | Pedro Bernal
Translated from "¿Te gustaría poder comprar lo que ves en Instagram? Pronto podría ser posible"
