Instagram launches payment app for online purchase
New Delhi : Instagram users can now shop online from their social media account directly without leaving the social networking site. The Facebook owned service has added a payment feature to its app. Users can register a debit or credit card as part of a profile, set up a security pin and start buying things without ever leaving Instagram.
Instagram newly launched payment allows users not to leave for a separate website and enter payment information any time when a purchase is made.
When sources asked officials at Instagram, a spokesperson confirmed that native payments for booking appointments like at restaurants or salons is now live for a limited set of partners.
The social network has dinner reservation app ‘Resy’. Some of its clients’ Instagram Pages now offer this native payment for booking. It is believed that in future, Instagram users can expect direct payments for things like movie tickets through the app.
In March 2017, Instagram announced that “we’ll roll out the ability to book a service with a business directly from their profile later this year,” but did not disclose about native payments.
However, the payment settings are now visible for limited users in the U.S. A glance at the terms of service reveals that Instagram Payments are backed by Facebook’s Payments rules.
With its elegant pictures and surplus brands, shopping through Instagram could prove popular and give businesses a big new reason to advertise on the app. It is likely that the company might get higher conversion rates since people don’t quit in the middle of checkout as the fill in their payment information, brands might consider to push people to buy via Instagram.
The payments option will work with Instagram’s “Shoppable Tags,” which first started testing in 2016 to let users see which products are in a post and tap through to buy them on the brand’s site. Following this, Instagram has joined hands with BigCommerce and Shopify to get their clients hooked up, and expanded the feature to more countries in March.
It is possible that Instagram Payments could make compulsive buys much quicker, appealing more businesses to get on the platform. This new change is likely to make the social networking site a big player in commerce in the days to come.
