Instagram now lets users shop directly in chats

Instagram has announced a new feature to let users buy products from small businesses directly in chats without having to head to a website. 

Starting today, when you send a DM to a qualified small business on the popular photo sharing app, you will be able to customize the product you’d like to buy, ask your other questions, place your order and complete your purchase, using Meta’s new payment service Meta Pay, in the chat thread. You’ll also be able to track your order in the same place. 

Instagram is now more than a photo-sharing app with over 1 billion active users contacting businesses every week, Meta said. 

‘’Each week, one billion people message a business across our family of apps — whether it’s chatting with brands, browsing products, asking for support or interacting with stories,’’ said the tech giant in its announcement post. ‘’We want to help people start conversations with businesses they care about and help them find and buy products they love in an easy, seamless experience, right from the chat thread.’’

Also Read: Instagram Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022)

The social media giant first launched Shops on Instagram in early 2020 and also brought it to Facebook in May the same year. 

To lure more users, the company has been adding new features to the service which it made more visible on the platform by launching Shopping in Reels and replacing the activity section on the home screen with Shops and Reels tabs.