Instagram has taken another small step towards boosting its eCommerce presence with the creation of its first-ever shoppable catalog for Christmas, in collaboration with a range of influencers from the UK.

The 12-page catalog highlights product selections from nine prominent UK influencers – as explained by Instagram:

“The Creators include LGBT activist Tanya Compas, body positivity champion Megan Jayne Crabbe (aka @BodyPosiPanda) and fashion stylist Monikh Dale, who have all curated their top products from their favorite small businesses.”

As such, it works on two fronts – promoting the influencers themselves, by shining a spotlight on them and their selections, while also boosting small businesses, who’ve faced challenging conditions throughout 2020.

As you can see in the example above, each page of the guide is curated by a different influencer, with the products displayed then available for purchase via posted links. At the bottom right of each page, there’s a ‘Shop Now’ CTA for each of the featured items, which connects readers back to each business’ Instagram presence.

That’s important, as it highlights Instagram itself as the place to shop, as opposed to referring people back to the company websites for ordering. This is key in building habitual shopping behavior within the app – up till now, businesses have sought to get referral traffic from Instagram, in order to drive purchases. But now, Instagram wants shoppers to stay in the app, with the addition of Shops and other tools helping to build the platform into an eCommerce destination.

This new guide aligns with that broader push, and while it’s a fairly small step in the larger scheme, it’s another way to direct user behavior, and encourage a new way of viewing their Instagram browsing.

And it’s an interesting product overview within itself. You can check out Instagram’s ‘Christmas Edit’ catalog here.