A new Twitter post by Instagram reveals that the social media giant owned by Facebook is testing out new layouts for its home screen with dedicated tabs for Reels and Shopping.
In the shared tweet, the company showcased three layouts. And out of which one would be implemented for bringing Reels and shopping tabs to Instagram.
Moreover, the Reels and shopping tab would be added to the bottom navigation bar. However, it is still not clear whether these new tabs will be additionally added or it would replace existing tabs.
This new home screen changes will include the most tested features of 2020 by the company. Besides, the company wants to give its users a dedicated tab for accessing either Reels or shopping.
Though a dedicated tab for Reels is not what users have been excited about. In the past, a dedicated Reels tab was tested out in India, Brazil, France, and Germany.
However, as far as we can tell, users were pretty baffled because the Reels tab occupied the explore tab option. And now Instagram is testing to bring the Shopping tab as well to the horizontal menu bar.
The new Instagram layouts with the shopping tab will attract more businesses
Well, Reels is basically a rip-off of the TikTok app, which is facing its due ban in many of the major countries, including India. The shopping feature is what will give some revenue to chip in for Instagram.
Basically, the addition of a dedicated shopping tab on the home page would allow Instagram to attract retail businesses. As Instagram is full of influencers, they can use this tab to sell merchandise, artwork, and other products.
Note that the shopping feature is not anything new for Instagram. It was there since 2018. But now, the company has understood the importance of this section and devoting its resources to it.
Talk about the new Instagram layouts shared in the tweet which is under testing, all show Reels and shopping tabs prominent placement in the horizontal bar.
As per a report by Engadget, one layout, Reels replaces the Explore tab, which we don’t think would be the appropriate choice to go ahead with. The same Instagram layout shows the shopping tab replacing the Activity tab.
In another layout, Instagram has cramped all the six tabs, i.e. home, Explore, Reels, Shop, activity, and profile, in the navigation bar.
These new changes will be implemented in the coming few weeks. However, only a small number of people would be getting to test out these new layouts, Instagram is working on.