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Instagram has plans to build a standalone app for online shopping, the Verge reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The bigger picture: Retailers are already using Instagram as a high-end advertising platform, and Instagram is very popular among younger consumers who are native online shoppers. That positions Facebook-owned Instagram to make a big splash in e-commerce if its app moves forward.

Report: Instagram plots shopping app

The social media giant is prepared to make a splash in e-commerce.

An Instagram user browses the app. Photo: Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Instagram has plans to build a standalone app for online shopping, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="the Verge reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/4/17819766/instagram-shopping-app-e-commerce" data-vars-content-id="7a2b055d-d6d9-4b0f-8a85-cc9b92233317" data-vars-headline="Report: Instagram plots shopping app" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/4/17819766/instagram-shopping-app-e-commerce" target="_blank">the Verge reports</a>, citing sources familiar with the matter.The bigger picture: Retailers are already using Instagram as a high-end advertising platform, and Instagram is very popular among younger consumers who are native online shoppers. That positions Facebook-owned Instagram to make a big splash in e-commerce if its app moves forward.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Report: Instagram plots shopping app

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