Facebook's Instagram will let users buy things with Instagram "Stories," or vertical strings of video and text that are becoming one of the most successful social media formats.
A new, personalized channel for users within its discovery section called "Explore" has been designed for users to follow brands for shopping.
Vishal Shah, director of product management at Instagram, said at Recode's Code Commerce Monday that the new offerings will allow users to shop in two different ways on the platform: 1) Serendipitous shopping through stories and feeds and 2) Intentional, window shopping through "Explore."
The updates could help Instagram gather insights and data to help launch a standalone shopping app, something it's reportedly working on.
The Facebook-owned social giant says that more than 90 Instagram million accounts tap to reveal tags in shopping posts on Instagram every month. That's over 10% of its 1 million users.