Instagram's Live Shopping Feature will End in March

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The live shopping experience on Instagram will be discontinued, according to a recent announcement made by Meta.

The announcement was made by the firm on a support website for its photo and video sharing network, Instagram, which stated that live shopping would be discontinued on March 16, 2023.

You will no longer be able to tag products in live broadcasts on Instagram beginning on March 16, 2023, according to a post that Instagram made on its support page. However, the post continued, “You will still be able to set up and run your shop on Instagram as we continue to invest in shopping experiences for people and businesses across the feed, stories, Reels, ads, and more.”

The business also stated that other live broadcasting features, such as the ability to plan a live broadcast, the ability to invite visitors to join your live broadcast, and the ability to host a live question and answer session, have not been impacted in any way.

What is Changing?

This indicates that effective the 16th of March, users of Instagram will no longer be able to shop while a company or business hosts a live broadcast on the platform. Meta However, this does not mean that users will be prevented from being able to shop on Instagram.

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They will, however, be required to hold off until the company posts links on its page that would enable visitors to shop for the newly released products. Other buying experiences, such as the ones in which businesses collaborate to provide customers with shoppable links, will not change.

Why is this Happening?

Meta has not provided any specifics regarding the rationale behind its decision to terminate this experience. The company explained that it is making this shift on its support page, saying that it is doing so in order to “concentrate on products and features that give the most value to our users.” This suggests that the move could be a part of the company’s cost-cutting tactics, in which it is pulling its resources from working on functionalities that haven’t taken off or are no longer being used in the way that they once were, particularly in the post-pandemic age.

This isn’t the only change

It is important to point out that this is not the only modification that Meta has made to the purchasing experience on Instagram in recent times. At the beginning of this year, Instagram’s head of business Adam Mosseri announced that the dedicated shopping option would be removed from the home screen.

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Additionally, Meta discontinued the live purchasing experience it provided on Facebook a year ago. Instead, it requested that businesses demonstrate their wares through Instagram Reels, advertisements within Instagram Reels, and product tagging within Instagram Reels.