How to Find an Instagram Shop

Finding a great Instagram shop can feel like treasure hunting without a map. You know there are thousands of unique brands out there, but scrolling endlessly often leaves you with the same big-name suggestions. This guide gives you the map. We'll walk through clever, practical methods for discovering incredible Instagram shops, from using the platform's native tools to thinking like a social media pro.

Start with Instagram's Built-In Shopping Features

Over the years, Instagram has introduced several features designed to make shopping easier. Many people overlook them, but they are the most direct path to finding what you want. Think of these tools as your starting point for personalized discovery.

1. The Often-Ignored Shop Tab

At the bottom of your app, you'll see a small shopping bag icon. This is the Shop tab, and it’s your personalized mall curated by the Instagram algorithm. When you tap it, you won't see a generic feed, you'll see a collection of products, shops, and collections tailored to you.

How It Works
Instagram analyzes the accounts you follow, the posts you like and save, and the brands you interact with. Based on this data, it serves you content it thinks you’ll love. If you find yourself consistently liking posts from sustainable clothing brands, your Shop tab will start to fill up with similar businesses.

Actionable Tip: To improve your Shop Tab, start "training" the algorithm. Consciously interact with content from brands and creators that match your aesthetic. Like their posts, save products you find interesting, and even follow a few new shops. Within a few days, your Shop tab recommendations will become much more accurate.

2. In-Post Product Tags and Story Stickers

You’ve definitely seen them: a post from an influencer or brand with a little shopping bag icon on the image. Tapping the image reveals tags with product names and prices. This is social commerce in its purest form - seamlessly turning inspiration into a shopping opportunity.

• In Feed Posts: Brands can tag up to five products per image. When you tap a tag, a pop-up shows details and offers a "View on Website" button. This lets you jump straight to the brand's website without leaving the app.
• In Stories: Brands and creators can use product "stickers" that function just like tags in feed posts. It's a fantastic way to discover products as they're being demonstrated or worn in a more casual, behind-the-scenes format.

Example in Action: You’re watching a Story from a home decor creator, and they’re showing off a beautiful new vase. If they use a product sticker, you can tap it, see the price and brand, and click through to purchase it right then and there. It closes the gap between seeing something you love and buying it.

3. Build Your Personal Wishlist

Whenever you see a product tag, you'll also see a small bookmark icon that allows you to save the item to your Wishlist. This is more than just a digital shopping list, it’s another powerful signal you’re sending to the algorithm about your tastes.

How to Use It Strategically:

• Tap the product tag on any post.
• In the product detail view, tap the bookmark/save icon.
• To view your Wishlist later, go to your profile, tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines), and select "Saved." All your saved products will be in a collection there.

By saving items, you’re telling Instagram, "Show me more of this." Over time, this deepens the personalization of both your Shop tab and your Explore page, making future discoveries even easier.

Master the Art of Searching and Exploring

If the Shop Tab is your personalized storefront, the Explore page and Search function are your tools for actively hunting for new finds. They require a bit more intention but offer even greater rewards.

1. Turn Your Explore Page into a Shoppable Feed

The Explore page is designed to show you content from accounts you don’t yet follow but are likely to enjoy. To a savvy shopper, this is an endless source of new brand discovery. The key is to be deliberate with your interactions to shape what appears there.

How to Curate It:

• Be an Active “Liker”: Don’t just scroll. When you see a post from a small business or an independent artist that you like, engage with it! Like it, leave a thoughtful comment, or save the post. Every interaction is a vote for what you want to see more of.
• Use the "Not Interested" Button: If the Explore page keeps showing you content you dislike, gently correct it. Tap and hold a post and select "Not Interested." This helps fine-tune the algorithm.

The more you shape your Explore page, the less it feels like a random collection of viral content and the more it becomes a feed of potential new favorite shops.

2. Level Up Your Hashtag Game

Hashtags are the original discovery engine of Instagram. While massive tags like #fashion or #homedecor are too broad to be useful, niche hashtags are where the magic happens.

Think about what makes a product special. Is it handmade? Is it local? Is it from a woman-owned business? These descriptors are often used as hashtags by small shops.

Examples of Niche Hashtags:

• For Products: Instead of #jewelry, try #clayearrings, #minimalistjewelry, or #vintageinspiredjewelry.
• For Community/Values: Try searches like #shopsmalllove, #womenowned, #blackownedbusiness, or #ethicallymade.

Actionable Tip: When you find a small shop you like, look at the hashtags they’re using on their posts. You’ll likely find a handful of community-specific tags that will lead you to other, similar brands. You can even "Follow" a hashtag, which will cause posts using that tag to appear directly in your main feed.

Discover Shops Through People You Trust

Smart brands know that the best marketing comes from genuine recommendations. Creators and influencers in your niche are some of the best curators out there, and they've already done the hard work of vetting brands for you.

1. Snoop Around Their Profile

When you find a creator whose style you admire, their profile becomes a roadmap to new shops. Here’s where to look:

• Check Their "Tagged Photos": This is a goldmine. Go to their profile and tap the icon that looks like a person in a square. This shows every photo they’ve been tagged in. Brands often tag creators wearing their products, giving you a direct link to new shops.
• Don't Forget Story Highlights: Many creators save their favorite products, discount codes, and brand partnerships in themed Highlights. Look for titles like "Faves," "Links," "Codes," or "Shop My Looks" right below their bio.
• "Link in Bio" Matters: Check the link in their bio. Many use hub pages (like Linktree or Beacons) where they list direct links to products they’ve mentioned or their favorite shops.

2. Dig Through Their Followers and Following

This is a more manual, but highly effective, strategy. People tend to follow accounts that align with their interests, and that includes the creators you admire.

• Who Do They Follow? Scroll through their "Following" list. Are there any accounts that look like independent brands or small boutiques? A fashion creator is often one of the first to follow up-and-coming designers.
• Engage with the Community: Look at the comments section on a creator’s posts. Oftentimes, small brand owners who are fans themselves will leave comments, giving you an organic way to discover their profiles.

Unconventional Methods for Advanced Discovery

Ready to go a level deeper? These less-obvious techniques can help you find hidden-gem shops that aren’t discoverable through a simple search.

1. Follow the “Similar Accounts” Breadcrumbs

This might be the most powerful, under-the-radar discovery tool on Instagram. When you find a shop you absolutely love, Instagram can show you others just like it.

How to Do It:

1. Navigate to the profile of a shop you like.
2. Next to the "Follow" or "Follow Back" button, you’ll see a small icon of a person with a plus sign, or sometimes just a down arrow. Tap it.

A list of suggested similar accounts will slide down. This uses Instagram's "people also follow" logic. It's an incredibly effective way to find ten new brands based on one that you already know you love.

2. Shop Locally with Geotags

If you want to support businesses in your community, geotags are your best friend. A geotag is the location attached to a post. Small boutiques, artists with studios, and local makers often tag their city or neighborhood in their photos.

Simply go to the search bar, tap "Places," and type in your town, a specific neighborhood, or even a popular local market. You'll see a feed of all public posts tagged at that location, making it easy to spot a local ceramist, jewelry designer, or clothing store.

Final Thoughts

Finding unique shops on Instagram is all about shifting from passive scrolling to active searching. By combining the platform's shopping features, mastering smart searches, and tapping into the recommendations of trusted creators, you can build a feed that's a constant source of inspiration and filled with independent brands you're excited to support.

And for all the brand owners and social media managers on the other side of the screen, keeping up with posting, answering comments, and building a community is a massive effort. I've been there, and I know that trying to grow a business on Instagram can feel relentless. That's why we built Postbase, it’s a central hub where we can plan everything from Reels to carousels in one visual calendar and manage all our comments in one place. It clears away the chaos so we can spend more time doing the fun stuff - creating and connecting.