Small and regional brands power Instagram's marketplace run in India

As the photo sharing platform gets ready to open for business in the country, small businesses and regional labels are hoping to cash in

The power of smartly composed photographs has never been more potent. Check out the Instagram stories for Swiggy, the online food ordering and delivery platform, or Chumbak, an accessory design agency or fashion designer Sabyasachi, whose eponymous premium label is every celebrity’s calling card. Among the most active brands on the platform, they have seen their app downloads increase and recorded big marketing wins at a fraction of the cost of traditional media initiatives. Now as Instagram gets set to roll out its ‘shop’ button in the country, both the platform and its band of small brands are hoping to cash in on their engagement.
 
Sabyasachi (fashion) with 3.3 million followers across seven accounts, Netflix with 710,000, Chumbak with 256,000 and Zomato with 118,000 are among the big users of Instagram stories, a format that allows easy display and access to products and services. And over the past year, they have cashed in as  Instagram has introduced a host of features that help browsers shop online as a prelude to opening itself up as a marketplace. “Shopping on Instagram is currently available in 46 countries, and we are gradually expanding to additional partners in countries around the globe, including India,” said an Instagram spokesperson.
 
India is an important market as small brands have been eager users and promoters of the platform in the country. They have benefited too as engagement with brands is 10 times higher on Instagram than Facebook says a 2018 report by Vidooly, an online video analytics and marketing company. According to the report, 60 per cent of the app’s users login daily and it is the second most engaged platform after Facebook.
 

“In India, Instagram has high-value customers. Even though the number of active users is less than 65 million. This makes it a powerful platform, especially for fashion, beauty, hospitality and food brands,” said Vikas Chawla, co-founder of digital marketing agency Social Beat.
 
According to data provided by research firm YouGov, 78 per cent of active Instagram users prefer shopping online. And while nearly every brand is using the platform today, digital native brands are likely to benefit the most when Instagram turns itself into a shopping platform, say experts.
 
They could take a leaf out of Swiggy’s book. It achieved a 17 per cent increase in installs with a 30 per cent drop in cost per install due to an Instagram campaign that ran from January to March 2018. Premium clothing brand Little West Street finds the platform extremely convenient. “Instagram is growing and customers love the visual aspect and the ease of purchase,” said Samridhi Ganeriwala, founder, Little West Street, a fashion brand. Fashion is among the biggest category of brands using Instagram.
 
Another draw according to experts is Instagram Analytics, a free tool. It encourages small brands to be bolder and more experimental with the medium. Ganeriwala said that the detailed insights are helpful for the company to understand what resonates well with customers. “The breakdown of demographics, age, time of purchase etc. are very useful,” she said. And as shopping becomes even easier, brands like hers will be tracking these numbers even more eagerly, hoping to turn their social accounts into commercial goldmines.