A TikTok-like shopping experience is coming to the Amazon app via the Amazon Inspire feature. The new short-form video and photo feed that enables users to browse items and ideas and make purchases from content made by influencers, companies, and other users, was just launched, the firm said today. The purpose of the function is to divert consumers’ attention away from TikTok and other applications where businesses may directly promote to users in order to increase sales on Amazon.com.
Amazon Inspire just launched and will be available all across US
The firm said that the Amazon Inspire feature would be made accessible to a small number of American consumers in early December before being made widely available to all Americans in the months that follow. The introduction comes after testing conducted earlier this year, when it was discovered that Amazon was experimenting with a TikTok-like shopping stream in its app, which at the time had its own navigation button at the bottom. This high-level location in the main navigation is still there in the version that is now available, but accessing the Inspir feed will now require tapping a light bulb symbol rather than the diamond icon that was observed in testing.
Customers must open the Amazon Shopping app and press the Inspire symbol to begin using the service. They are asked to select from more than 20 hobbies when they first start the app in order to customize their Amazon Inspire feed, with choices for things like beauty, skincare, pets, gaming, gardening, hiking, interior design, travel, jogging, and more.
AmazonInspire, which specializes in short-form video content but also supports photographs, functions something like a cross between TikTok and Instagram. Similar to Instagram, you may double-tap anywhere on the screen to give it a red heart “like” by doing so. However, utilizing TikTok’s vertical video feed, where you swipe up from the bottom to view the next video, is quite similar to how you navigate through the Amazon Inspire experience. Similar to TikTok, engagement buttons are located off to the right side of the screen.
When you find anything you like, you may click on the little buttons at the bottom of the window to be sent to Amazon to purchase it. The product will initially appear in an overlay window above the video when you press on these buttons, but if you tap “See all details,” you will be sent to the product website where you can learn more about it, buy it, or add it to a list.
According to Amazon, as Inspire gathers more information about the user’s preferences by monitoring their interaction and likes, the feed will eventually become more individually tailored. In order to further enhance the product, the store intends to add more shoppable elements to Amazon Inspire as well as extra in-app functionality and content. Amazon Shopping director Oliver Messenger said the following in a statement about the launch:
“We invent every day to make shopping easy and fun. Inspire is our new shopping experience that connects Amazon customers with shoppable content created by other customers, the latest influencers, and a wide range of brands. In just a few taps, customers can discover new products or get inspiration on what to buy, all tailored to their interests, and then shop for those items on Amazon,” Messenger said.
Mae Badiyan, Practically Pursia, and other Amazon Influencers have already been invited to publish on Inspire by the firm. The Amazon Influencer Program will allow the producers to profit from user purchases. Badiyan said:
“My audience wants engaging videos that introduce them to new products, which is why I’m excited to use Inspire to spotlight my favorite everyday essentials with the convenience of shopping those items immediately on Amazon.”
For years, Amazon has used formats of popular social media platforms to connect customers and encourage sales. It initially experimented with the concept in various forms, such as Amazon Collections in 2013 and Amazon Stream in 2015. After that, it introduced an attribute similar to Pinterest called Interesting Finds in prior years. Later on, it hosted an Instagram competitor named Amazon Spark, but after only a few years, it ended that program. Chee Chew, the vice president of consumer engagement at Amazon, who was Spark’s main investor, left the company at the start of the year.
Since the material mainly serves to promote things, Amazon’s social media commentary sadly tends to be somewhat generic in most cases. People use social media for purposes other than merely looking for shopping inspiration. They desire interaction with creators, learning novel information, amusement, and laughter. Despite the switch to video, it’s unclear if Amazon Inspire will be able to deliver on these aspects.
While we wait to see how Amazon Inspire will perform, why not check out some of our other articles, such as biggest tech layoffs 2022 explained: Amazon, Meta, Twitter, Asana and more, or behind the scenes: Amazon lays off 10,000 employees.
