Instagram announces that it will be removing the Shopping tab from its app starting in February. Instagram users will instead have a revamped navigation bar on their home feed that will just have shortcuts to create content and for Reels.
“As part of this change, the Instagram Shop tab will be removed,” wrote Instagram on its announcement page.
In 2020, Instagram started introducing its Shop tab in the app as a “better way to connect with brands, find products you love, and support small businesses”. Currently, you can still find personalised recommendations, editors’ picks, and other items based on the accounts you already follow.
The Shop button’s initial introduction was met with some mixed feelings by its users. After the announcement, a user asked “at what point did we as a society say Instagram is where I go to SHOP???“.
In September 2022, Instagram began testing a main feed without a shopping button. The platform said it wanted to “simplify [the] Instagram experience” for users. Still, Instagram says shopping will still be a part of the platform.
“You will still be able to set up and run your shop on Instagram as we continue to invest in shopping experiences that provide the most value for people and businesses across feed, stories, reels, ads and more,” continued Instagram.
Besides Instagram, TikTok also has its own Shopping feature now that they have integrated with the content we watch, rather than creating a separate section. I’ll expect to see Instagram following suit for a potentially more effecting shop feature.
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