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Media and PR

Travel’s Social Commerce Future — Digital Marketing News This Week

Jeremy Kressmann

Photo Credit: Instagram is getting more commerce-oriented and is testing new features to make it easier for marketers to sell products to users. Pictured, Alba Ramos (instagram.com/sunkissalba) started a Spanish-language only beauty channel from her New York City home. Facebook Inc./Instagram

Skift Take

Whether we're discussing Instagram or conversational "chat bots," more travel brands seem to be experimenting with ways to make online commerce more social. The question is, do consumers want that too?

This week, we're talking about social commerce. With Instagram testing a broader rollout of "shoppable" buy now buttons, and many travel brands experimenting with conversational chat interfaces, a new wave of social-focused commerce seems to be taking off in the travel industry. These tools represent an evolution from previous methods of online selling, in that they let consumers utilize information like word of mouth and offer more "conversational" methods of finding and buying products (rather than searching a database). But even as social commerce gets more attention, some marketers remain skeptical. Not everyone is convinced Instagram users want their photo browsing "polluted" with product pitches. And striking the right balance

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