Above Square Appointments on Instagram Square is perhaps better known for its core payments product that allows any merchant to accept card payments through a mobile device But the company also offers a number of complementary services such as food delivery from local restaurants via Caviar small business financing via Square Capital and perhaps a lesser known bookings service called Square Appointments Square Appointments launched back in 2014 after Square acquired software startup BookFresh In a nutshell the service is designed to help small businesses such as salons and gym instructors increase their bookings by making it easier to schedule appointments Naturally this ties into Squares broader payments and point-of-sale infrastructure so customers can pay online in advance or on arrival at the front-desk Above Square Appointments Today Square announced that it will integrate Appointments with Instagram and Google meaning that merchants can chase new customers through two of the biggest properties on the internet Friction-free Earlier this year Instagram rolled out new call-to-action CTA buttons for businesses in conjunction with a bunch of reservation partners including Booksy OpenTable Yelp GrubHub and Eventbrite This meant that service providers on Instagram no longer had to link to a website or other online property customers could book tickets classes or order all manner of goods through Instagram directly Now Squares Appointments service is part of the mix too All merchants have to do is add a relevant CTA button to their Instagram profile and they can generate bookings directly from their photo-obsessed followers Above Square Appointments in Instagram In terms of Google well the internet giant first started testing its Reserve with Google service in late 2016 in a handful of US cities before rolling it out across the US last year Up until now business owners accessing their Google My Business account could choose from a number of scheduling providers such as Booksy SuperSalon and SimpleSpa to enable bookings directly from Google Search or Google Maps Sellers using Square Appointments can now get involved too Above Square Appointments in Google Google is the essentially synonymous with the internet for many consumers as it serves as a portal into just about every facet of modern life including searching for and booking appointments And given that Instagram is a gargantuan social network in its own right with 1 billion users that integration too will serve as an easy way to remove the friction from finding a fitness instructor to booking a class Though the web is still a key part of commerce for millions of business according to Square 50 percent of Appointments users do not have their own website