Instagram makes shopping in the app even easier – In-app payments in the test

Ready to shop on Instagram ? Instagram itself seems ready: ‘Insta’ already showed last year how companies could get a closer relationship with their followers, for example by allowing customers to book via the social media channel. That function has already been tested, but according to TechCrunch , the option to register a payment method in the app has now also been silently added to a limited number of users.

You do this by adding a credit or bank card to your profile, which is secured with a separate pin code. So you no longer have to leave Instagram to book and pay, and that is quite a lot. If that function is rolled out widely (at the moment it only works at a number of restaurants that are also affiliated with reservation app Resy), you will soon be able to purchase all kinds of things directly on Instagram. The payment function does not seem to be rolled out in Europe yet, so this is not a thing for us yet.

Very easy to buy

Instagram itself has commented on the story, also saying it intends to increase the number of payments available for things like movie tickets and other tickets. Of course there had been shopping tags for a while, but they eventually got you out of the Instagram app and that breaks your flow. Of course, Instagram does not want that, and by giving you a payment method within the app so that you can pay immediately, you can then scroll happily again.

If this is rolled out widely, it will be very easy to buy something, if you no longer have to fiddle with how you are going to pay for the loot outside of the app. If that becomes the norm, you will no doubt see a much larger number of brands that start treating Instagram as a serious sales channel. Whether that is nice for your timeline? That’s a whole different discussion. But you will shop.