Instagram ends livestream shopping

 

Instagram will sunset live shopping on March 16.  The move comes as Instagram’s parent company, Meta Platforms, continues its effort to cut costs after a challenging fourth quarter. Meta has announced that Instagram users will no longer be able to tag products during their live streams. The product tagging capability has been available to Instagram's creators since 2020. Facebook, another Meta-owned platform, shut down a similar live shopping feature on its app last fall. Livestream shopping skyrocketed in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, but consumer interest faded as pandemic restrictions were lifted. Meta is focused on cutting expenses after its revenue slid for a third straight quarter in Q4 '22.