Mark Zuckerberg announced today that you can now buy products from small businesses and track those orders in Instagram chat. 

How does it work. You simply send a message to a qualified business you’re interested in buying from. The business initiates a payment link, where you’ll be able to purchase, track the order, and ask follow-up questions. Meta Pay will also be enabled for an easier check-out experience. 

Early tests. Jaw Surf tested the feature to sell their custom hand-made surfboards and fins. Owner Joshua Weisfeld said that customers would often contact him via Instagram chat before purchasing. But since payments in chat were enabled. Customers can pay directly from the chat thread. Additionally, the chat thread stays open so customers can send messages about their purchase.   

Why we care. The payments in chat feature make purchasing an item a more seamless transaction for the buyer, instead of the old multi-step process of clicking between pages or websites. Conversion numbers for sellers should increase as a result. However, buyers and advertisers should be aware that fraudulent pages, copycats, and hackers still exist, and they should be cautious when using this payment method.