70% of shoppers look to Instagram for their next shopping spree, which provides you with a huge opportunity to expand your shops’ reach and hit your target market! Instagram is my favorite social media platform to promote your business on, but there’s something that may be preventing your followers from finalizing their purchase: sales friction! Keep reading to learn what sales friction is, and how Paloma is providing an easier checkout process for your customers.
What is sales friction?
Sales friction is anything that prevents your potential customers from saying “yes” to buying from your business. This can be anything from a lengthy checkout process, having to click through multiple links, taking the customer from Instagram to another site or platform, or even just having to spend too long finding what they’re looking for (which is why shop sections are vital!). Sales friction also frustrates the customer which not only prevents the sale, but also hinders your ability to build customer loyalty.
Sales friction is best avoided when the perceived benefit is greater than the amount of effort required by the customer
No matter how well-designed, every sales system presents the customer with friction. While the checkout process on sites like Shopify and Etsy are standardized at this point, Instagram is one area where there’s room for improvement.
Why Instagram?
E-commerce and Instagram go hand-in-hand. If you have an online shop, you should have an online presence - and that’s not going to change anytime soon. 1 in 2 people have used Instagram to discover new brands, and over 83% of users discover new services and products on Instagram! I have seen first-hand the difference that a strong social media presence can make – not only with my own business but with my clients’ businesses as well.
Second for second, social media users spend the most time on Instagram daily
If you’re not already selling on Instagram, you may be missing a huge opportunity to reach over one billion monthly Instagram users. In fact, 80% of users want to buy a service or a product right from the Instagram platform – so how can you get one step ahead of the competition and provide your followers with top-notch service?
Introducing: Paloma
Paloma is the first DM storefront which allows your Instagram followers to check out in the Instagram app without having to connect to Instagram shopping! Selling (and buying) online has never been easier.
So how does it work? With each product that you sell, you designate a unique hashtag that customers can use to initiate the checkout process. For example, if you’re selling a tie dye shirt, your hashtag may be #Tiedyetee which you can note in your Instagram posts’ caption. When the customer comments or DMs with the hashtag “Tiedyetee”, they will automatically receive a direct message with the product's information and the option to securely checkout right through direct message. While you can never get rid of sales friction entirely, using Paloma is as close as you can get! See the image below to take a peek at what that will look like:
While there’s no website required, listing fee, or monthly subscription, Paloma does take a transaction fee of 4.9% + $0.30 on each order.
With Paloma the opportunities are endless. Here are some ideas to implement Paloma into your Instagram profile today:
- Offer in-app discounts (such as 10% off or free shipping) as incentives for your Instagram followers. This can help you cut costs on other platforms’ seller fees.
- Offer exclusive product drops through Paloma. This can help generate some hype for your new listings.
- Create fun graphics to grab your followers’ attention. This will allow you to curate a professional and aesthetically pleasing feed. Here’s one example:
Something I love about Paloma is how easy they make it to start selling. You don’t have to spend hours creating an aesthetically pleasing landing page because Paloma has their own internal storefront. As a seller with Paloma, you can upload your products to your profile, designate your hashtags for Instagram, and collect payments all in one place from your phone!
Pros of using Paloma:
- Create an easy checkout process for your Instagram followers
- Build customer loyalty & increase returning customer rates
- Offer a unique and professional experience for your customers
- No hassle of designing a website
Don’t let lengthy checkout processes and difficult website navigation prevent you from making a sale. Make the most out of Instagram by providing your followers with a seamless experience and a smooth checkout. Click here to learn more about Paloma and make your profile today!
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