Now you can shop on Instagram without ever leaving Instagram

(Image credit: Rex)

It's now going to become even easier to shop straight from Instagram once you've seen a product on your favourite influencer's or brand's feed. Some self-confessed shopaholics (ahem, definitely not me) might even call it dangerous, that's how easy it is.

Yesterday the social media platform announced that it was adding a checkout function in the app, which will let you store your payment information to make checking out even quicker.

Over 20 brands have already signed up to the scheme, paying Instagram a small fee in return. These include Zara, H&M, Dior, MAC Cosmetics, Uniqlo, Prada and more.

If a product is available to shop within the app, when you click on it, you'll see a big blue 'checkout in Instagram option', where you can pay and add your delivery address all without leaving the app, where before a pop-up window appeared, taking you to the brand's website, which all became a bit faffy.

As you know, Facebook owns Instagram, so your payment info will be stored there for future purchases, though it says it won't share your details to anyone else.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.