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Ecommerce Giant Amazon Launches New Social Media Tool
Whoever chose the business name for Amazon is a genius. Whether it was founder Jeff Bezos or a marketing team, they may have had a premonition that the online selling platform would indeed become an Amazon, a giant in ecommerce.
Always on top of trends, if not the initiator, the behemoth of all ecommerce is fully aware of the limitless influence social media has on pretty much everything, which includes consumerism. Though they obviously avoid advertising on other social media platforms, they keep tabs on trends, closely track demographics, and make plans to take full advantage of the ever-increasing cultural shift that leads internet users to social media.
And taking the pulse of the younger generation of buyers has inspired Inspire – an Amazon quasi-social media app designed to mimic the popular TikTok. Not surprisingly, it’s an early hit.
Amazon Inspire began a rollout phase in early 2023, offering a downloadable app that in fact resembles the TikTok platform. TikTok is a video-centered app popular across a range of demographics, though it is mostly used by those under 40. That’s where the dollars are, say experts in ecommerce. And that’s where the Amazon future is headed.
This intriguing and nuanced app offers so much more than just a small photo on their main website. Amazon shoppers can log in to Inspire directly through their phone-based Amazon app by launching a light bulb icon. It promises personalized content (made possible by a collection of prior shopping choices and probably a bit of data collection from social media use).
Users may choose from more than 20 areas of interest such as gaming, beauty products, clothing, pet care, recreational pursuits, and beyond. Browsing the returns that pop up after you’ve chosen a sector, shoppers scroll through buttons to further customize a collection they may find interesting. The experience is similar to TikTok feeds, with engagement buttons and swiping actions that lead to promoted or favored items.
This customization feature is perhaps the key selling point of both selling and buying on Inspire. It doesn’t require typing text into a search window. Product categories appear in launchable buttons, and they are diverse. Amazon hopes they will lead you to what you’re shopping for.
What Amazon has not disclosed is how the app generates recommendations, except to say that it requires at least two recommendations before it appears as a promoted product.
Content creators may enroll in the program to upload media, including video and photos connecting to thumbnail photos of Amazon listings they fancy. These contributors may earn commissions, depending on volume. Customer reviews, always a key element in online sales, are welcomed.
Amazon Inspire is now available for use by all US consumers, and the jury is out on how this new, creative approach to a hybrid influencer/advertising function will play out. For now, it appears to be an ingenious method of following the lead in cultural and consumer trends as they develop on the internet.
Interested in buying or selling on Inspire? Get more info here.