Instagram fails with its pilot test. the platform of social mediaowned by Meta, has announced the removal of the live shopping, which had been operating in the United States since March 2022. 90% of Instagram users follow at least one commercial activity on the platform, says the American company.
The model, which is a fusion between marketing of influencers and the social commercebecame popular during the pandemic, especially in China, where development began in 2016. The largest operated in the country of this model is Taobao, owned by Alibaba.
In early March 2022, Instagram brought its live shopping experiment to the United States., ensuring “that it could help users to focus on the products and new features.” However, less than a year after its implementation, the company has decided to eliminate its function: in the West the live shopping it was not being well received.
The decision to remove the function is part of the strategic plan for “the year of efficiency”, as described by the CEO of the company Meta, Mark Zuckerberg. “The intention is to eliminate those projects that are not working or that are no longer crucial and, thus, increase efficiency,” explained the manager.
Instagram has removed the home screen feature from the app, putting Reels, the platform’s short video format, in its place on the center button. The American group has indicated that this movement is only “an experiment” and has assured that it will continue to bet on sales models within the application.
Instagram launched a test for the platform, in March 2022.
Seeing the successful case of China, in the West several operators began in 2020 to implement the model in Europe and the United States. Between March 2020 and July 2021 alone, purchases through live streaming skyrocketed 86% in Europe, 76% in the Middle East and 68% in North America, according to Astound Commerce.
He livestream shooping it also has better ratios than traditional e-commerce: First of all, it speeds up conversion by allowing you to buy directly from the platform where the influencer recommends the content.
