Instagram has announced a new series of celebrity-lead shopping live streams, as it continues to expand its eCommerce horizons, and ideally, evolve user behavior in the app.

As explained by Instagram:

“From December 7 - 15, we’re hosting a series of live holiday shopping events on Instagram featuring Nia Sioux (@niasioux), Lisa Rinna (@lisarinna) and more of your favorites. You’ll find exclusive offers and a curated selection of gifts for you and your special ones. Tune in on the Instagram Shop tab!”

As you can see here, the streams will cover a range of topics, including fashion, recipes and ‘gifts under $30’. More celebrities and events will also be announced as Instagram looks to expand on its live shopping broadcasts, as part of its broader push to increase eCommerce activity in the app.

Instagram ran a similar series of live shopping streams back in September, its first foray into bigger-scale live shopping experiences.

The impetus behind this is the rise of live shopping in China, where live-stream commerce is already a $170 billion industry, and rising fast. US social apps are now looking to tap into the same, with TikTok, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter also trying their luck at live-stream shopping broadcasts, and with parent company Meta looking to bring more commerce opportunities into its eco-system, with a specific focus on maximizing its hold in developing regions, Instagram presents a key opportunity on this front.

Indeed, according to Facebook’s own research, consumers are increasingly keen to try out live shopping, with 89% of people expressing an interest in the option.

And on Instagram, where people are already connecting with brands, and looking to stay up to date with the latest announcements, it seems like a perfect fit, offering the lure of popular celebrities along with the impulse shopping benefit of ‘buy now’ streaming.

It’ll be interesting to see whether it does catch on in western markets, and how Instagram users warm to the option. Instagram’s still developing its tools, but it could become a much bigger consideration as it continues to evolve its live-stream shopping tools in 2022.

A space to watch for all eCommerce brands.