Instagram beta in-app shopping feature in US

San Francisco, March 20 (IANS) Facebook-owned photo messaging app Instagram has launched the beta version of its in-app shopping feature in the US that would allow over a billion users to buy products tagged in images or videos without having to leave the platform.Called "Checkout with Instagram", the feature would allow US users to shop from over 20 brands including Adidas, Kylie Cosmetics and Warby Parker, without re-directing users to other websites. "We will introduce a selling fee to help fund programmes and products that help make checkout possible, as well as offset transaction-related expenses," TechCrunch quoted an Instagram spokesperson as saying on Tuesday. The photo-messaging app would charge sellers making sales an undisclosed amount of fee."We aren't sharing the specific number right now. We are testing a selling fee with businesses during the closed beta. It will not change the price of the items for consumers," the spokesperson said.Checkout tags would appear on feed posts, Stories and Explore content from the brands in the closed beta that Instagram plans to eventually open to more businesses.For now, those who use Instagram's shopping feature can pay with PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, the report added. Instagram's plans on rolling out the feature globally remain unclear.
--IANS rp/mag/bg