This Electronics Company Has Figured Out How To Make Camera Sales Directly On Instagram
To make this happen, Leica has asked customers to register with the Brazilian e-commerce company Arco, which ties customer PayPal accounts to their Instagram handles. Then, customers can make purchases just by typing "comprar," Portugese for "purchase," into the comments of an Instagram photo of a product they like.
For its new promotion, from the ad agency F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Leica Brazil is putting photos taken with the Leica C on its Instagram account, @LeicaBrasil. Customers who type "comprar" into the comments box get a new camera, as well as a blown-up picture of the photo they commented on.
Here's a video detailing how it works:
So far, people have purchased five of the cameras, which retail for about $1,900.
The move represents an interesting step forward for how companies use Instagram, a platform whose photo-sharing feature can serve as a way for brands to display products to customers who might want to buy them online, similar to what is done on Pinterest.
By adding a function for people to purchase items directly on Instagram, Leica is opening taking one step toward the seamless integration of social media and e-commerce. Many marketers see this kind of integration as the ideal end-game for social media, a place where they hope consumers will spend increasing amounts of time while remaining open to purchasing the numerous products that come across their streams.
Already, this phenomenon is playing out in China, where accounts for the popular microblogging platform Weibo can be linked to the online shopping place Taobao, which is owned by the Yahoo subsidiary The Alibaba Group.
However, social commerce has lagged behind in the U.S., where customers are used to purchasing goods at established players like Amazon and eBay that have less incentive to wade into the social space.