Instagram Developing 'Service' Feature For Booking Appointments
- by Gavin O'Malley @mp_gavin, March 22, 2017
“We'll roll out the ability to book a service with a business directly from their profile later this year,” Instagram boasts in a new blog post.
In the video, clicking the “Book” button prompts additional questions about the service request -- like the type of haircut desired, the scheduling of the cut and payment arrangements.
Imagine all the services featured in a user's Instagram feed -- food preparation to physical training, floral arrangements to foot messages. The potential of the booking feature begins to seem enormous.
Instagram on Wednesday was more excited about the news that more than 1 million businesses now advertise monthly on its platform -- a 400% increase year-over-year. Also, the fact that Instagram's global community now exceeds 600 million users.
Signaling a bright future for its booking ambitions, Instagram revealed that more than 8 million businesses now have profile pages around the world.
In addition, users are already making many business inquiries via Instagram. In just the last month, more than 120 million users visited a business's Web site, retrieved directions, called, emailed or direct-messaged a business via its Instagram page, the platform revealed.