The “Instagram Effect” Is Driving Fashion Sales

Study says the social-media platform is poised for huge growth.

The social-media phenomenon that is Instagram – which allows young women, especially, to become online celebrities of a sort by posting frequent photos of their lives – is starting to have a profound impact on fashion retailing, reports the Financial Times. In the U.K., says the article, “Retailers and analysts say that millennial females’ anxieties about appearing too many times in the same outfit in their internet photographs is driving fundamental changes in the way they shop.” What sources call the “Instagram effect” is boosting sales for up-to-the-minute fashion trends. Retailers and manufacturers report significant increases in “buy button” sales. A new market research report predicts that Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, will quadruple its ad revenues to $2.81 billion in the next two years, and eventually eclipse Google’s U.S. mobile display ad business.

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