Users can now directly purchase products from small businesses via the Instagram Direct chat function in the United States. For the time being, this function is not available in the Benelux and it is also unknown whether that will change.
Naturally, users have always been able to ask questions about a product via the chat function, but meta adds now adds the option to pay directly via the Direct function. The relevant customer can then track a purchase. Affiliated companies can also send a payment request to a customer.
Payments are made through Meta Pay, the free payment system of Instagram’s parent company. In principle, the payment system, an evolution of what was first called Facebook Pay, seems free given that Meta is the intermediary between the bank and the company. Companies must be affiliated with Instagram Shops and the social medium asks for a commission of 5 percent per transaction.
Previously, a similar feature was added to WhatsApp; Meta clearly wants to organize the relevant services more to facilitate e-commerce. For the time being, however, the necessary systems for the tech giant’s overarching strategy are not available in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The two left screenshots show what a user sees, while the owner of a company creates a payment request in the right screenshots. Images via Instagram