Instagram, the popular social media platform, has announced that it will be discontinuing its live shopping feature starting on March 16, 2023. This feature enables users to tag products during their live broadcasts, allowing viewers to easily purchase those products. In a support page statement, the company stated that the decision was made to concentrate on products and features that provide the most value to users.
Despite the discontinuation of the live shopping feature, Instagram users will still be able to create and operate their shops on the platform. This is because the company intends to invest in shopping experiences for both individuals and businesses across various areas of the platform, including feed, stories, Reels, ads, and more.
The social media giant made it clear that other live broadcasting features, such as scheduling a live broadcast, inviting guests to join a live broadcast, and holding a live Q&A, will not be affected by this decision.
This move comes after Instagram announced last month that it will remove the shopping tab from the main bar at the bottom of the screen. The Reels tab will replace the Shop tab in the navigation bar, and the button to create a new post will be moved further down.
Although many tech companies have invested heavily in QVC-like live shopping features following the enormous popularity of live shopping in China, Instagram’s decision to discontinue this feature is a sign that they intend to focus on other areas.
However, other social platforms are still working on shopping tools. For example, YouTube has a partnership with Shopify in the USA that enables creators to sell products directly on the platform, and Amazon has a live shopping platform with a variety of streams that are also available in India.
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