Dive Brief:

• New York-based startup MikMak announced a new feature to help retailers use “minimercials” — short informercials intended for mobile and social media consumption — to provide an engaging transition for their Instagram and Snapchat posts to products available for sale on their web sites, according to TechCrunch.

• The new Attach feature allows Instagram and Snapchat users to swipe up from from a retailer's post to watch a short, entertaining video that references the product that has caught their interest. They can add the product to a shopping cart directly from the minimercial. Viewers also can choose to watch more minmercials from the same retailer.

• GoPro, BirchBox and Dr. Brandt are among brands that have started using a beta version of Attach, and TechCrunch reported that Dr. Brandt has already seen a 500% increase in direct sales conversion from Instagram stories.

Dive Insight:

MikMak has variably been called a mobile video shopping platform, the re-inventor of the infomercials and "QVC for millenials." But it's probably that last description that most interests retailers, who are not so consumed by the need to become masters of social media as they are interested in turning social media attention by millenials and younger demographics into sales.

So, is the answer to make consumers laugh? Maybe — going from a retailer's Instagram story to a static, boring product page sure sounds like something that could stop a sale in its tracks. Sure, some of us might expect and even want to go straight to that boring product page when we're ready to buy, but others want to stay in "entertain me" mode as long as possible, and even shop in that mode of they can.

MikMak's capabilities come to Instagram and Snapchat as both social media platforms are trying to develop shoppable features. Instagram just last month announced capabilities to make photos on its platform more shoppable. Snapchat, meanwhile, has proven to be a tougher marketing nut to crack, but in both cases MikMak brings a format and content recipes that users of these platforms may find to be a natural addition.

The announcement also comes as retailers and brands are looking for ways to increase mobile shopping conversion. Consumers have apps and use apps, but are not buying from mobile apps in very large numbers. Mobile social media tools, such as Facebook Messenger chatbots, increasingly could become another mobile avenue by which companies can sell and close sales via mobile, and minimercials could very well become a key part of the sales pitch.