Over a year ago Instagram announced that it was planning on rolling out a new booking and payment feature – and for a few lucky stateside users, it’s finally here.
Last week the photo-sharing app confirmed to TechCrunch that “. . . native payments for booking appointments like at restaurants or salons is now live for a limited set of partners.”
Those lucky few who have been blessed (or cursed?) with the ability to make payments on Instagram can now store their credit/debit card details directly in the app.
Instagram has also said that in the future, all users can expect to pay for things like movie tickets and services via the app. But at present, the new feature only appears to be available in the US. And there’s no word on when (or if) it will be rolled out in the UAE.
While shoppable Instagram tags have been around for a while now, users still need to access third party websites in order to complete their purchase. If this feature becomes available to all users, it will be interesting to see how it will impact the e-commerce industry.
Many small companies and start-ups only use Instagram to sell their products online, so it’s natural that Instagram would eventually create an in-app payment feature that could be used by companies of all sizes.
Would you purchase a service and/or goods within the Instagram app? Let us know in the comments below