Two years after its push into social commerce, Instagram is planning to drastically scale back its shopping features.
Despite earlier efforts to prioritise shopping on the platform, according to a report by The Information, the company is rolling back its in-stream shopping program and potentially abandoning the concept entirely. This will eventually see the current Instagram Shop tab removed from the app, with the company shifting to a “simpler and less personalised version” of its in-stream product display.
What’s surprising is the pandemic saw a rapid growth in social commerce, which encouraged apps like Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest to cater to this. However, in the past few months the demand for shopping tools on these platforms appears to be declining.
With Instagram taking a step back, it’ll be interesting to see where exactly eCommerce is heading.
Your weekly round up of the latest industry news and platform updates collated by Digital Voices’ Strategy and Insights team.
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