Dive Brief:

• Amazon Pay, the online payment service offered by the e-commerce pioneer, partnered with platform developer Curalate to offer a seamless checkout service to online retailers, according to a blog post by the company. Luxury fashion retailer Moda Operani is the first company to use one-step checkout on Instagram, Facebook’s photo-sharing application with 700 million monthly active users.
• Moda Operandi, which has about 1 million Instagram followers, uses Curalate’s Like2Buy platform to handle transactions in its shoppable Instagram gallery. With the addition of Amazon’s payment service, shoppers can buy products by clicking the Amazon Pay button. Buyers don’t have to enter their payment and shipping information because it’s already linked to their Amazon account.
• As the debut retailer on Instagram with Amazon Pay, Moda Operandi plans a campaign for its Instagram account focusing on products for consumers to buy with the new payment service. The retailer’s average order value is $1,500, and the most expensive item purchased through a mobile app was $80,000, according to Glossy.

Dive Insight:

For many social media users, Instagram is the place to share fashion ideas. Fast-fashion retailers like H&M, Zara and Forever 21 have thrived by offering cheap, trendy and disposable outfits that consumers, especially teenage girls, can wear for multiple Instagram selfies. But this month, Nike was named the most popular brand on the photo-sharing site, putting it ahead of the fast-fashion stores and competitor Adidas, according to a study by social analytics firm Iconosquare.

With Amazon Pay, Moda Operandi is making it easier for Instagram users to purchase products with a single click, saving several steps that could likely lose customers along the way. Last year, Moda Operandi added Amazon Pay to its website as another way to make a purchase. Amazon continues to expand its payment platform that allows customers to use their accounts to pay on sites outside of Amazon.com, according to Geekwire. More than 33 million unique customers have used the payment platform since its 2013 debut.

Moda Operandi’s experience with Instagram and Amazon Pay highlights the shifting allegiances and rivalries that develop among social media companies, retailers and third-party tech providers when new platforms and trends emerge. Amazon is developing its own fashion business that likely will compete with Moda Operandi for some high-value customers. Instagram has an in-app feature to tag products for purchase on a retailer’s website, but that takes extra steps than the solution provided by Curalate and Amazon Pay.