Instagram introduces Shop and Reels tabs

Instagram is introducing a big change in its home screen. The social media platform has introduced a Reels tab and a Shop tab. The Reels tab is built to discover short videos from creators all over the world. The Shop tab gives the user a shortcut to connect with brands and creators and discover products.

Instagram claims that the new changes have been made in order to cater to the growing demands caused by the pandemic. In a statement, the company mentioned, “At Instagram, our focus has always been on young people and creators because they’re trendsetters. Change is happening quickly right now, including how both of these groups use Instagram and engage with the world. This year, with the pandemic and much of the world sheltering in place, we’ve seen an explosion in short, entertaining videos on Instagram. We’ve also seen an incredible amount of shopping move online, with more and more people buying online and young people looking to their favorite creators for recommendations on what to buy.”

Reels was introduced a few months the ago and the company seems to be pushing forward the new short video format, which gained more popularity after TikTok was taken down from the Play Store and App Store in India.

With the Shop tab, the company is planning to make it easy to shop on Instagram, and it claims this new positioning will also support small businesses. The user can find personalized recommendations, editors’ picks curated by the platform’s @shop channel, shoppable videos, new product collections, and more.