'Social commerce' is like noodles, says Instagram Business Director Vishal Shah

Almost everyone has bought into the “social media” dream. With “social commerce” however, it is a different story. For even though people are hooked to their phone, they do not seem to make purchases that originated from social media.

For the past three years, Instagram has been trying to solve this shopping puzzle.

In fact, Vishal Shah, director of product for Instagram Business, told a class of top executives from the fashion and beauty business, that he wants to figure out how the platform’s most avid users buy things. “Shopping isn’t a linear journey,” he said. “It’s not even a funnel, in the typical sense. We actually refer to it as the noodle.”


Now to figure out how the noodle is cooked.