The Information reported on Tuesday that Instagram is disabling its shopping features.
According to an internal memo distributed by Instagram to its staff on Tuesday, the company noted that it was removing the platform’s Shopping page due to “shifts in company priorities.” Instagram plans to focus on a less personalized version of the shopping page called “Tab Lite.”
On Wednesday, the company will begin launching a public test of its app that will introduce users to the said ‘Tab Lite’ version of its shopping page. The company does have some interim plans to remove the button that directs users to the existing shopping tab by March 2023.
A Meta spokesperson told Insider, “Commerce remains important for Instagram as we continue to make it easier for people to discover and shop products throughout the app from feed, stories, reels, and innovations like live shopping and drops.”
Instagram’s adjournment of its shopping department comes after a broader internal pullback on commerce initiatives across Meta’s platforms. The tech giant had informed staffers that it was putting a plethora of commerce features on the back burner – these include Meta’s investment in ‘creator commerce’ within Instagram shopping, community-driven shopping projects, its ‘Friends & Family Shopping’ section, and visual search.
Instagram told staffers in an earlier memo that these changes reflect “a new Northstar and goals for the commerce organization that is more directly tied to advertising revenue for Meta.”
Still, Instagram won’t thoroughly abandon its identity as a shopping destination. A spokesperson said, “we remain committed to the goal of making Instagram the best place for people to discover and buy products from brands and creators they love.”
