Instagram might launch another standalone app after IGTV, this time for shopping

Many people end up shopping on Instagram, thanks to all the businesses who turn their business into a visual storefront. Instagram is now expanding the shopping experience, this times on a new standalone app.According to a report by The Verge, the app may be called IG Shopping and will let users pick what they want to purchase by browsing through collections from businesses that they follow. Users also will apparently be able to purchase goods directly from the app.[caption id="attachment_5117701" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Instagram is building a standalone app for shopping. Image: tech2[/caption]According to Instagram’s parent company, Facebook's recent earnings, 2 million of the 25 million businesses who have Instagram accounts are advertisers. Considering that, a standalone app for shopping could prove very profitable to the company in terms of revenue.If IG Shopping is for real, then this will be the second standalone app after IGTV, which was launched on 20 June this year, dedicated to user-generated videos up to an hour long.While IGTV was expected to be intensifying the competition for consumers’ time among ad-supported streaming services such as YouTube, we do not really know if that has turned out to be true so far.IG Shopping could also be expected to give direct competition to e-commerce websites, but it could also follow the IGTV trend. It could be popular given all the statistics, but maybe not popular enough to beat the likes of Amazon.Most businesses today, consider an Instagram account necessary, and they will probably appreciate a standalone app.The publication was provided the information from people who were familiar with the matter, and there has been no official comment by Instagram so far.