Meta is officially calling it quits on Live Shopping. Instagram will shut down Live Shopping next month. The company killed its live shopping feature on Facebook back in October.
Starting on March 16, brands and businesses on Instagram will no longer be able to tag products while livestreaming. Other livestreaming features will not be affected.
However, Meta claims it is still invested in shopping even though it is ending live commerce. Instead of live commerce, the company plans to push advertising as one of the main ways consumers discover brands and shop on the app. This includes the use of automated tools such as:
- Shop ads
- Advantage+ shopping campaigns
Meta will also continue to invest in Checkout, which lets users purchase products in just a few taps from:
- Stories
- Feed
- Reels
🔮 The Beginning of the End for Social Commerce?
Despite its promises, TechCrunch pointed out today that Instagram recently demonstrated it intends to deprioritize shopping on its app. Last month, it removed the Shop tab entirely and moved Reels to the side in its pivot to video.
The platform said brands and creators will still be able to go live on the app, invite guests to their streams, and host Q&As. After Live Shopping is shut down, businesses will also still be able to set up an Instagram shop.
