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Instagram is paring back its shopping features, according to The Information.
The platform will remove its existing ‘Shop’ page.
Instagram will refocus its e-commerce efforts towards advertising.
Instagram is rolling back several of its shopping features, The Information reported on Tuesday.
In an internal memo Instagram distributed to staff on Tuesday and obtained by The Information, the company noted that it was removing the platform’s Shopping page due to “shifts in company priorities.” Instagram plans to pivot toward a less personalized version of the shopping page that it’s calling “Tab Lite.”
In an earlier memo, Instagram told staffers that these changes reflect “a new northstar and goals for the commerce organization that are more directly tied to advertising revenue for Meta,” The Information reported. (Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, owns Instagram.)
Instagram didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
On Wednesday, the company will begin launching a public test of its app that will introduce users to the ‘Tab Lite’ version of its shopping page, The Information noted from Tuesday’s memo. The platform also has provisional plans to eliminate the button that directs users to the existing shopping tab by March 2023, The Information reported.
Instagram’s downshift in shopping comes amidst a broader internal pullback on commerce initiatives across Meta’s platforms. Earlier this summer, the tech giant informed staffers that it was putting a slew of commerce features on the back burner, according to The Information. Those include Meta’s investment in ‘creator commerce’ within Instagram shopping, its ‘Friends & Family Shopping’ section, community-driven shopping projects, and visual search, The Information reported.
Still, Instagram isn’t parting with its identity as a shopping destination. A spokesperson for the company told The Information, “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.”