Instagram is helping restaurants by making food pics shoppable

Restaurants have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Instagram is hoping to help these businesses -- which have had to shift quickly to only supplying take-out and delivery -- by partnering with ordering platform ChowNow. Restaurants can add stickers to Instagram photos and stories, which can either bring users to order forms that are pre-filled with the depicted meal, or a page for buying gift cards. Food is one of the most popular subjects on Instagram, so this could help restaurants with a social media presence drum up some business. Plus, customers can re-share the stickers to increase awareness in a time when every order counts.

According to TechCrunch, ChowNow doesn’t take a commission on food or gift card orders, but restaurants do have to pay between $99 and $149 per month for its ordering and payment tools. ChowNow handles the payments, but hands off the delivery process to companies like DoorDash. Hopefully Instagram’s efforts to make posts shoppable will help independent restaurants bring in some extra revenue during these difficult times.