Instagram Is Ditching the Shopping Tab
Instagram announced on Monday that it’s removing the Shop tab from its app, revealing a new navigation bar on the way. The change will come next month and will redirect the Reels tab (because everyone loves Reels!) to the bottom of the screen to replace the Shop tab in addition to the new post button, which will also move to the bottom of the screen.
Meta first introduced a test last month that removed the Shop tab, “As part of our continued work to simplify your Instagram experience, we are testing a few changes to the main navigation bar at the bottom of the app with a small number of people,” a Meta spokesperson told The Verge. Based on today’s announcement, it appears the test results showed that the tab must die.
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Currently, users receive product recommendations in their feed which will reportedly disappear eventually, but in an article posted on its website, the company said, “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.”
The Shop tab was first introduced in 2020 to replace the then-popular Activity tab which was relocated to the top right corner of the home screen. In recent years, Instagram has begun to receive criticism from users who have accused the platform of trying to be more like TikTok, saying it has strayed from its original mission.
While the redesign won’t change the feed itself, the new navigation bar and home page are being touted as providing users with something closer to the original experience of posting photos.
Meta has rolled out additional shopping features as recently as July of last year when the company introduced a DM option to reach out to sellers and track packages.
Although the Shop tab will be removed, the Meta spokesperson told The Verge, “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.”
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