Update: An Instagram spokesperson has reached out with following statement:
“Mobile commerce is definitely a space we are looking at closely. However, this isn’t something we are testing at this time”
Instagram is reportedly testing new ads that will take full advantage of being integrated with Apple’s platforms including the new 3D touch pressure sensitive touchscreen feature and its payments service Apple Pay, Digiday reports.
The integration of Apple Pay and 3D Touch, a new feature introduced with the iPhone 6s that allows pressure sensitive touchscreen interactions, is reportedly being tested as an expansion of Instagram’s recently launched “Shop Now” feature:
It has even run tests with restaurants to sell menu items right from the Instagram feed, without the need to click off the app’s main feed, said an ad agency source familiar with the test.
Some of the shopping tests incorporate features like Apple’s force touch screen feature, which lets consumers apply pressures in their clicks to switch among multiple product options in the images, the source said.
In other Apple Pay news, MacRumors notes that Wegmans will be one of the next major retailers to roll out its rewards card program but that it’s only in a piloting phase ahead of a full roll out next year. Yesteday, Walgreens became the first retailer to offer its rewards cards through Apple Pay.
And possibly related to Apple’s overall rollout of its own payments service, the site noticed Apple appears to have quietly dropped support for PayPal credit payment plans in its US online store. It is, however, continuing to offer Paypal as a financing option in the UK and as a payment option in its online stores there.
