Instagram to let users buy from small businesses directly via DMs; Here's how it will work

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 19, 2022, 3:00 PM IST

According to the company's blog post, users will never have to leave the app or even a conversation to make an Instagram purchase. Currently, users must leave the post, send a message to a company to inquire about a product for purchase, and then follow the link they offer to complete the transaction.

Instagram, owned by Meta, is introducing a new feature that will let users to purchase items directly via direct messaging. Meta revealed on Monday that the new payments function will allow customers to buy from small companies via direct conversations.

According to the company's blog post, users will never have to leave the app or even a conversation to make an Instagram purchase. Currently, users must leave the post, send a message to a company to inquire about a product for purchase, and then follow the link they offer to complete the transaction. Users will be able to immediately speak about customisations and place orders using the new functionality.

Tap to resize

Latest Videos

Tap to resize

Also Read | WhatsApp texts, calls to work through Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses; Here's what we know

Furthermore, tracking the order in the same chat thread will make it easy to ask company owners follow-up inquiries. The functionality will also allow users to pay with Meta Pay.

This follows the unveiling of Instagram's new creator-focused features. The updates are part of Instagram's aim to make the platform the "greatest online venue for creators to make a life." Subscriber conversations, subscriber reels, subscriber postings, and a subscriber home have all been added by the firm. Users will be able to filter out posts that are only visible to them under this tab.

Small company owners will be able to interact with clients in real-time to answer inquiries and confirm purchase details with this new service. They can make a payment request with an item description and a price, and then request and collect payment. When companies are ready to launch their digital storefront, they may use Shops on Instagram and Facebook, according to the firm.

Also Read | Twitter introduces 'Unmention' feature, will allow users to remove tags; Know more

Last week, Instagram also had an outage. The outage in the early hours of Friday disrupted over 24,000 Instagram users. On Friday, the outage tracker Downdetector reported a rise in outage complaints between 1AM and 3AM in India. This comes just one day after Twitter had a nearly three-hour outage that affected up to 50,000 users.

For more reliable and latest news