Want to know when a shoe brand drops its latest kicks? Instagram is testing a feature that sends users reminders if their favorite fashion brands drop new items.
Soon, Instagram may allow brands to set up reminder notifications on new merch when they drop. The company just announced that it's partnering with around 20 brands in the United States initially, a list which includes names such as Adidas, Highsnobiety, Chinatown Market, Revolve, and more.
How Instagram Merch Reminders Will Work
The reminders work just like ones users can already set for more general launch reminders in Stories. However, this one includes stickers that are more specific, and it launches Instagram's built-in shopping feature.
Reminders show up before the new merch drops, and also 15 minutes before the actual launch. Do note that this is still presently a test. Even still, it makes a lot of sense. This is something Instagram was inevitably going to explore, given that a lot of brands and artists already use the platform to share limited-edition merch and other items. Some fans set their own reminders for these things. With this new feature, Instagram can do it so they don't have to.
Why This Is Useful
A huge part of why people need to be reminded is rarity. Sneakers, for example, are notoriously hard to come by just minutes after they drop, with so many hyped shoes selling within a narrow time frame. Some apps have tried to curb this such as Nike's SNKRS, which fronts reminders similar to Instagram's new feature. Despite these efforts, a lot of users still miss out on releases, thanks to high demand and the use of sneaker bots, which automatically purchases an item faster than any human could.
Instagram's merch reminders will appear as notifications that users can click, and when they do, they're taken to a page powered by the aforementioned shopping feature, called Checkout. This will allow users to complete their purchase. Checkout was released in March for just a limited number of brands and influencers. Instagram says it will add brands daily as the feature grows.
As Engadget notes, it remains unclear whether the reminder function will be available for all brands that use Checkout. But this would make sense given that notifications stand to increase sales and earn revenue — not just for brands, but for Instagram as well.
Do you think Instagram is slowly becoming a marketplace? As always, if you have any thoughts, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!
