Flash sale-management app now allows merchants to sell via comments on Instagram

November 25, 2013 – Soldsie, a leading social commerce app that automates the posting and payment processing for Facebook auctions and flash sales, has expanded to offer Instagram as an available social media sales channel for its merchants.

Similar to Facebook sales, merchants post images of their merchandise for sale to Instagram. Customers simply type “sold,” along with their email addresses, to purchase the item. An invoice is automatically generated and emailed to the customer for payment.

Since launching in September 2012, Soldsie has processed more than $15 million in sales via Facebook.

“Our merchants have seen the success of comment selling on Facebook and are looking for new channels to reach and engage customers. Many of them were already “teasing” their Facebook sales on Instagram, with their interested customers commenting “I want it,” “how do I buy this?” or “where do I buy this?” in response. With Soldsie’s Instagram integration, they can capture the purchase right in the comments,” said Chris Bennett, Soldsie’s CEO and co-founder.

“Because it’s strictly visual and its user base is younger and more tech-savvy than Facebook, not to mention its 130 million active users, Instagram is the perfect next step for Soldsie’s merchants,” he added.

Instagram functionality will be offered both as a stand-alone product for new merchants and as an add-on for existing merchants using Soldsie’s services for comment selling on Facebook.

“With just a few weeks’ worth of sales under our belts, merchants are seeing great potential selling on Instagram. All signs point to success,” said Bennett.

Soldsie soft launched its Instagram service in mid-October to a select group of merchants to test and monitor the new integration. Prep Obsessed (www.instagram.com/prepobsessed), the first merchant to go live with the Instagram selling feature, saw 72 orders in its first day. Children’s clothing seller, Smocked Auctions (www.instagram.com/smockedauctions) is seeing $1,000 per day in sales on average.

“People are beginning to build their following counts on Instagram, and it’s great to see that the businesses we work with are seeing a great return on investment for building their following base,” he says.

In July, the app began accepting payments in several foreign currencies and signed its first international merchant, a clothing retailer in Australia.

# # #

Links:

• Soldsie/Instagram Selling: new.soldsie.com/instagram-selling

• Sample Instagram sale: http://instagram.com/p/en2N0RAhQZ

Media Contact: Jenny Hancock
jenny@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191