Sportswear brand Nike is on the hunt for younger customers after deciding to broaden sales to Instagram. Engaging directly with members of the photo-sharing app who will be able to shop for Nike-branded goods without having to leave Instagram's walls.

Nike has recently formalised its partnership with Amazon, where it is selling a limited assortment of shoes and clothing in an effort to crackdown on the trade in counterfeit goods online.

Nike chief executive Mark Parker revealed during the brand's most recent earnings call that the company will sell goods directly Instagram, though he hasn't shared the full details of the partnership.

Speculation on Engadget suggests that Nike’s Instagram approach will see it go one-step further by joining a rareified list of companies which can make use of the app’s inbuilt ‘shopping tags’. First introduced last year these allow users to tap on associated ads to obtain pricing information and detailed descriptions of advertised goods and even direct towards companies' own sites or app checkouts.

The move means Nike will be placing itself front and centre of young people’s social media activity – and one step closer to their wallets too.

Nike has today launched a much anticipated new shoe linedesigned in collaboration with comedian Kevin Hart.