Instagram Is Removing The Shop Tab & Making It Easier To Post Pics
Grid posts are “in” for 2023.
Remember how annoyed you were two years ago when Instagram rolled out a new layout that included a new Shop tab and removed the Create button? Well, those days are finally in the past, because Instagram is removing the Shop tab and making it a lot easier to post photos and videos. You’ve probably been dreaming of this moment since the big change happened in November 2020, but that doesn’t mean the layout redux won’t come with some growing pains. Here’s what you can expect your Nav bar to look like when Instagram removes the Shop tab from the app in February 2023.
Prepare to post to the grid way more in 2023. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced via his personal IG account on Jan. 9 that the Nav bar, which is the section at the bottom of the app that lets you navigate to your profile, homepage, and more, will feature shortcuts to get to Home, Search, Create, Reels, and Profile. That means you’ll soon be able to post easily from the bottom of the screen with the “+” icon. You might have gotten used to creating posts by tapping the “+” icon at the top right of the screen when it moved a couple years ago, but when the new Create option comes back to the Nav bar, you’ll realize how good it used to be. Mosseri shared in his Reel that the inspiration behind the update was to help “simplify Instagram,” and “bring people together over what they love.” It’d probably be more simple if the Create button never moved in the first place... but, moving on.
Instagram Is Removing The Shop Tab
With the Create button coming back to its rightful place in the Nav bar, the Shop tab is getting the boot, according to Mosseri’s Reel. The little handbag icon will be no more when the Shop tab is gone in February 2023.
How To Shop On Instagram
You’ll still be able to make those impulsive 3 a.m. Instagram ad purchases. Even though the Shop tab will be kaput, you can browse and shop in Feed Stories, Reels, and ad, according to Mosseri’s announcement.
The Instagram head didn’t go into detail about how shopping within the app will actually work post-Shop tab, but according to the “Ways To Shop On Instagram” FAQ page, you can shop in Feed by tapping a post with the price tag icon to reveal tagged products, then tap the product tag to access the product page on the brand’s website.
If a product in a Story catches your eye, all you have to do is tap the product sticker and you’ll be adding to your cart in no time. To checkout a product from a Reel, tap the “view products” option at the bottom of the video, then tap the product tag.
A separate FAQ page about the upcoming layout changes also states that brands will still be able to set up and run their shops on IG, as the company continues to “invest in shopping experiences that provide the most value for people and businesses across feed, Stories, Reels, ads and more.” It’s not clear exactly what that will look like with the Shop tab gone, but you’ll still see products on your IG.
How To Create Posts With The Nav Updates
Another major change coming to the layout is the order in which the options are displayed in the Nav bar. While the Home, Search, and Profile buttons won’t be going anywhere, the Reels tab will be shifted over one spot to the right, and Create will be taking its place front and center. No more accidentally opening Reels when posting your monthly photo dump.
Even if you’ve gotten used to the Shop tab in the navigation bar, once the Create button is back where it should’ve been all along, you’ll forget all about it.
