You‘ve probably noticed over the years how Instagram has gone from a fun photo sharing app to almost a full-on shopping mall today. Brand tags on posts, shoppable stories, Instagram Shop, Live Shopping…the list goes on and on!
But exactly how many people are actually buying products directly on Instagram nowadays? Well, let‘s take a deep dive into the platform‘s rapidly rising shopping ecosystem!
The Multi-Year Evolution Behind Instagram Shopping
As you know, Instagram began focusing on shopping capabilities years ago.
Slowly but surely, they rolled out feature after feature to court brands and simplify buying:
- 2016 – Product tagging in posts
- 2017 – Shopping channel inside Explore
- 2018 – Launched IG Shopping for select brands
- 2019 – Started testing checkout capabilities
- 2020 – Integrated FB Shops and launched IG Checkout
Over those 5 years, the platform strategically transformed into a bustling online mall. And today in 2024, you can discover, evaluate and buy goods without any website redirections.
Of course the pandemic poured rocket fuel onto these efforts…but more on that soon!
How COVID Lockdowns Unleashed Today‘s Growth
When COVID first hit, in-person shopping obviously plummeted. Instead, ecommerce and social media usage absolutely skyrocketed those first few months.
And rather than fight this trend, Instagram leaned into it heavily:
- They rapidly launched new shopping features
- Built direct integrations with commerce platforms
- Recruited brands/influencers for shoppable live video
These efforts provided struggling businesses a lifeline while meeting surging consumer demand for online/social shopping.
By mid-2021, lockdowns lifted but new digital habits stuck. Today, Instagram remains that go-to convenient "shopping mall" for 130 million+ monthly users!
Current Users and Near Vertical Growth
As mentioned, over 130 million people tap into Instagram‘s shopping ecosystem monthly. That‘s a staggering 85% year-over-year jump by the way!
To put this into perspective, only 70 million users were shopping on Instagram as of January 2021. But explosive feature growth and COVID circumstances doubled this figure to 130 million in just two short years!
Several platforms have highlighted this near vertical ascent:
| Jan 2021 | Jan 2023 | Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Active Instagram Shoppers | 70 million | 130 million | +85% |
And it‘s not just users that are flooding in. Major platforms like Adobe Analytics found Instagram shopping sales grew a whopping 126% YoY last Cyber Week!
Clearly the platform is resonating both consumers and commercial brands alike. But exactly who are these shoppers? What are they buying? Let‘s explore that now…
User Demographics: Who Shops on Instagram?
Given Instagram‘s broad user base, their shopper demographics span across categories:
Age Groups
There‘s decent distribution across age groups per Insider Intelligence data:
- 18-24 Years Old: 28.2 million
- 25-34 Years Old: 35.1 million
- 35-44 Years Old: 25.1 million
- 45-55 Years Old: 16 million
Millennials and Gen Z lead categories, but a strong Gen X presence exists too.
Gender
Among these users, women edge out men slightly accounting for 56% of shoppers compared to 44% respectively.
Income
Finally, middle and upper income groups are more prevalent shoppers:
- 29% earn $50-75k in household income
- 27% earn $100-150k
Lower income groups trail at sub-20% share of users.
Top Categories
As for what people buy, apparel and accessories dominate purchase categories:
- Apparel & Accessories – 32% of users
- Footwear – 13%
- Beauty & Cosmetics – 12%
But shoppers also splurge on home goods, jewelry, digital services, and more!
Now that we know who is doing the shopping, let‘s see how brands sell to them on Instagram.
Brand Utilization and Instagram‘s Selling Requirements
Clearly brands want in on surging shopping demand! But Instagram maintains strict commerce eligibility rules all sellers must adhere to first.
These requirements ultimately safeguard user trust and experience:
- Located in approved country
- Compliant to product policies
- Instagram business account
- Application approval
Additionally, if brands want to "unlock" certain capabilities, extra prerequisites apply:
| Checkout | Shops | Live Shopping | Ads | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | 40+ | Global | Select | Global |
| Account | Business | Business | Public, >=10k Followers | Any |
| Product | Physical | Any | Approved | Any |
| Approval | Application | Registration | Application | Automatic |
As you can see, Instagram dialed-in granular permissions depending on the capability. But ultimately hundreds of thousands of legitimate brands utilize these tools daily.
Monetization, Future Projections and Where Things May Head
Originally, Instagramcheckout charged sellers a % fee per order like other platforms. However during the pandemic, they waived commissions to spur business adoption.
In 2022, they reinstated a 5% commission on orders or $0.40 USD for purchases under $8 USD. Rather fair compared to the 12-20% cuts from Amazon, Shopify etc!
As for the future, analysts predict massive growth ahead:
- eMarketer: U.S. Instagram Shopping users to jump +41% in 2024 to ~87 million
- Insider Intelligence: Global users to exceed 175 million by 2025
And by 2027-2030, some analysts believe over 50% of Instagram‘s total user base will engage in shopping!
Functionality-wise, we‘ll likely see enhancements across immersive video, AR experiences, and integrated messaging:
- More brands using shoppable live video capabilities
- Wider adoption of virtual try-ons especially for apparel
- Potential for transaction ability directly within DMs
The road ahead looks very promising for social and Instagram shopping!
Potential Challenges That Lie Ahead
However, Instagram shopping isn‘t without its downsides of course. Scams and data privacy issues still run rampant.
Fake goods flooding Instagram shops remain a persistent issue. Despite stringent application reviews, some illegitimate sellers still slip through the cracks.
Data harvesting and advertising targeting also raise user privacy concerns. Instagram can collect rich analytics on shoppers for ad sales purposes. Hopefully, parent company Meta addresses rather than exploits these moving forward.
Barrier to entry for small sellers also exists between eligibility requirements and operational capacity needed to scale Instagram selling. so bigger brands still control the scene.
But despite those drawbacks, the platform shows no signs of ceding ground as the internet‘s top shopping mall with its sights set on continued user and sales growth year after year.
Wow, quite a journey we just went on yes?
It‘s incredible to see Instagram shopping adoption nearly double to over 130 million users since 2021. And analysts predict that figure could reach 200-250 million by 2025 at similar growth trajectories.
COVID played a temporary role kicking user growth into hyperdrive. But Instagram‘s long-term strategy still put them in pole position for social commerce regardless.
The convenience and breadth of built-in shopping tools enables the seamless user experience shoppers love today. On the flip side, it provides businesses an unparalleled digital storefront to engage customers.
While challenges around data privacy, fake goods, and small seller barriers persist, Instagram Shopping seems poised to only grow bigger from here!