Facebook’s Instagram Adds Shopping Via Images, Virtual Try-On
- New tools to compete with offerings from Pinterest, Snapchat
- Facebook pushes into e-commerce across all its social apps
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Facebook Inc.’s Instagram is adding new shopping tools, like letting people search for products using an image, as it expands e-commerce offerings across its family of apps.
When users click on the images they see on Instagram, Facebook will direct them to similar-looking products for sale. A user could click on a floral dress on the social media network and find similar outfits being sold in Instagram Shops, which are the stores the app hosts from third-party businesses, according to a company spokesperson. The test will begin later this year in the U.S. In the future, Instagram plans to enable users to take a photo from their phone to start a visual search, similar to technology already offered by Pinterest Inc., Google and Snap Inc.