Price Inquiries and the “Hidden” Burden of Shopping on Instagram
Why does the the “price plz” culture exist? No one seems to be a fan of it, and yet it's all around.
We’re not sure how far out geographically the “price plz” culture extends, but in Lebanon, even since before the financial crisis, it has been prevailing on our Instagram feeds.
But here’s the thing: shouldn’t one’s shopping experience on Instagram mirror (to a certain extent) one’s shopping experience in-store?
When you walk into a shop, you don’t go around asking the sales team or store owner the prices of items that grab your attention and that’s because the prices are stated on the item itself. This enables you as a shopper to do your own triage and calculations and decide what’s within your purchasing capabilities. In a way, this is empowering!
Enter the world of shopping on Instagram (at least in Lebanon) and most of that is taken away from potential consumers. Shoppers find themselves (to their dismay) leaving comments under posts or sending DMs whenever they want to know the price of an item, with the now infamous acronyms: “Price plz”, “PP” and others.
“What’s the big deal?” you might be wondering. The big deal is:
1- It’s disempowering for the consumer
2- It’s time consuming for both consumer and whomever is managing the Instagram Shop
3- It makes for a sub-optimal shopping experience (and who wants that?)
4- For some, it’s even demeaning (Yikes!)
“Then let them create an e-shop for God’s sake” might be your next thought. True, but…
Not all Instagram shop owners have either the means or the time to create an e-store and moreover many of them are actually happy selling directly on Instagram. However, there are ways to render their audience’s shopping experience a better one and more importantly, to generate more sales. You can easily setup your catalog of products on Facebook, Instagram & Whatsapp Business today. And simply putting a price in the caption is one of these ways if you don’t even want to setup a free store on those platforms.
But in Lebanon, the currency is fluctuating like a yo-yo!
Indeed, but there are ways to circumvent this: Price in USD with your exchange rate policy or price in LBP with a time frame (or without, see what suits you).
The point we are trying to make is that you might be able to close sales faster and even lighten your workload by adapting a bit of transparency on your Instagram feed.
Please bear in mind that we are not referencing those who wish to create a waiting list or generate potential pre-orders based on intrigue. We understand that sometimes not divulging the price is a communication strategy in itself and we’re not here to debunk that. We’re merely talking about the straight-to-the-point Instagram account that wants to sell.
Here’s some we found who are doing it in a way that eases the shopping experience:
Fabric of Lebanon @fabric_of_lebanon:
Their product can be found on Instagram and at ABC Department store. They currently do not have an e-shop. They not only put their prices in LBP (kudos!), but they also put available colors and sizes.
Baby Bump @babybump.lb
Their products are only sold on Instagram. They currently don’t have an e-shop and they mention their prices in USD in the caption of each product.
If you are interested to discuss your online sales strategy, get in touch for your free consultation.