And it is not just the big brands.

#InstaReach

India’s fashion market is currently estimated at $70 billion, of which up to $9 billion is already digitally influenced, as in, shoppers are browsing, searching, and buying stuff online. This is expected to touch $30 billion over the next few years, according to BCG-Facebook estimates, throwing up a massive opportunity for several boutique shops and mom-and-pop labels.

Many such homegrown companies are already trying to make the most of Instagram, without having to invest in a retail store, inventory, or expensive advertisements.

Around 30% to 40% of these young Indian designers’ business queries come through Instagram, Chandok estimates. 

In addition, Instagram lets brands target young buyers. As of 2017, over 50% of its users in India were aged between 18 to 24 years. Over the last one or two years, it has seen huge interest from advertisers and brands as new users and shifting demographics make the medium hard to ignore, says Prashant Gopalakrishnan, head of client services at digital media firm Dentsu Webchutney. ”There is a faster adoption from women on the platform.”

But Instagram still has a long way to go as it is much smaller compared to some other social networking platforms.

At 241 million users, Facebook is the largest social networking website in India, giving digital marketers a much wider reach. In addition, marketers are now also using messaging app WhatsApp—which has over 1.5 billion monthly active users in India—to reach buyers.

Scale apart, larger fashion brands reckon that Instagram will always need to be complemented with other marketing mediums such as print ads to reach out to a larger pool of audience.

“It is not a cheap platform for advertising,” Mukherjee says. “…it’s the right medium to reach out to consumers but we also work with magazine advertising because that helps to complete the picture.”

📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief

Our free, fast, and fun briefing on the global economy, delivered every weekday morning.