Instagram Scaling Back Shopping Features Amid Commerce Retreat
First, the official announcement from Adam Mosseri:
📣 Navigation Update 📣
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 10, 2023
The navigation is changing in February to make it easier for people to create, be entertained and connect with friends over the things they love.https://t.co/9tR4kIH9d0 pic.twitter.com/DwinENhku7
Second, additional context from The Information:
Instagram Scaling Back Shopping Features Amid Commerce Retreat
In an internal memo on Tuesday, staff were notified that Instagram’s existing Shopping page will eventually disappear, “given shifts in company priorities.” Instagram isn’t abandoning shopping altogether: over the next few months the company will test a simpler and less personalized version of the shopping page known internally as “Tab Lite,” according to the memo, which The Information has seen. The changes reflect “a new northstar and goals for the commerce organization that are more directly tied to advertising revenue for Meta,” the company told staffers in an earlier memo.
Clearly adoption of Shop has been poor. eCommerce seems like a wonderful revenue stream for Meta - more so than video ads - but they haven't solved that challenge yet. So they are retreating to what they know steal from TikTok.