After years of not being used by anyone, Instagram has decided to remove what was a rather controversial integration at the time. Yes, it is the Store tab, that button that came to replace the classic place occupied by the Notifications section. It seems that this integration has not finished settling among usersfor which Instagram has reported its withdrawal.
But it is not the only thing that changes. This comes as part of a redesign of the app’s home screen. Now, the place occupied by the Shop tab will be used by the Reels button, which until now occupied a privileged position in the center of the bar. Meanwhile, the latter will once again be dominated by the Create button, the classic cross from which we can upload images, stories or Reels to our Instagram account.
Is the Instagram Shop feature gone forever? The answer is no. Adam Mosseri, director of Instagram, commented in a video Note that this feature will continue to be available in Reels, Stories, and Ads. Nevertheless, there will no longer be a tab dedicated to this feature.
Since its integration, the app intended to integrate a place where businesses with Instagram accounts could publish and sell their products at the same time. Unfortunately for developers It seems that there has not been enough traction from users enough to justify a dedicated tab. After all, most of the time it was accessed more by mistake than by intention.
Instagram changes are coming very soon
In the same video, Adam Mosseri commented that these “news” will reach all users in February. Everything points to an attempt by the company to return to its roots. Let’s remember that a couple of months ago, the biggest celebrities created a campaign where they asked Instagram to “be Instagram again”. Something that even the Kardashians boosted in their accounts, giving it more traction.
For his part, Mosseri assures that it is a change whose objective is: “To simplify Instagram and focus more on what we try to do. We try to unite people for what they like.” To do this, they want to focus on three points: inspire, discover and connect.
However, Instagram’s philosophy might not be the only reason behind this move. As reported The Verge, an internal document makes it clear that instructions were given on Instagram to cut off the in-app purchase functions. In this way, the company can focus on more profit-focused business efforts through advertisements.
It also seems a matter of strategy on a psychological level. Moving the Create button to the center of the screen gives more priority to content creation, and not to the consumption of it, as was the dynamic on Instagram until now. In this way, perhaps the company can reach higher shares and face TikTok, its biggest competitor today.