It’s the start of the sales and yet Instagram no longer wants the “Shop” tab. Meta’s social network has announced changes to its navigation bar. We explain to you.
From February 2022, Instagram will change design. Adam Mosseri, the boss of the social network, announced it in a video posted on his account. The navigation bar visible when the application is launched will undergo changes, with the first removal of the “Shop” tab in favor of the return of the “+”, the tab for creating content. The order of the tabs will be: Home, Search, Create, Reels, and Profile. If the place of the “home”, “search” and “profile” tabs do not change, the “Reels” tab currently in the center will give way to the “creation” tab while the “Shop” page will disappear completely .
“You’ll still be able to shop on the Feed, in Stories, in Reels and in ads. The idea is to simplify Instagram and focus more on what we’re trying to do, which is bring people together around what they love. […] we focus on three things: inspiring people to express themselves, helping people discover what they love, and connecting people around what they find.”
These changes echo the many criticisms of users, and in particular of the Kardashian clan (in particular Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner) who did not hesitate to point out Instagram’s new strategy, which is too much modeled on that of TikTok. With the launch of Reels, short videos have gained momentum on the platform. As of today, the “Reels” tab is available in the center of the navigation bar, highlighting its importance. A status that will therefore change since the creation of content in general will regain its place.
The discontinuation of the “Shop” tab is not surprising following the closure of Facebook Live Shopping in October 2022. Commerce on social networks had nevertheless exploded over the past two years with more and more features and events to promote purchases, particularly on Twitter or TikTok.
