Instagram could transform into a Yelp competitor

If you’ve been admiring hair transformations from salon Instagram accounts, you might soon be able to book an appointment with a stylist straight from the app, according to Bloomberg. The Facebook-owned app tells Bloomberg that it’s adding an appointment-booking feature in the “next couple of months.”

The ability to make appointments via Instagram will take on services like Yelp and OpenTable, which offer crowdsourced reviews and photos from the business before letting users book a visit. Businesses use Instagram to advertise in a much more visual way, which is helpful for beauty and food industries as those are arguably some of the more popular categories of photos on the platform.

Currently, businesses can add buttons to their profile that let Instagrammers call them on the phone, send them a message, or get directions. Instagram advertisers can add additional call to actions such as links to an item on sale, an app install button, or a simple “learn more” button.

The Bloomberg report also adds that other business-focused features, like reviews and more call-to-action tools, may be arriving in the future as well. Instagram’s head of business James Quarles said 80 percent of Instagram users follow a business, so it’s no surprise that the company is looking into ways to monetize from the consumer angle.