Amazon.com Inc. has introduced a feed Inspire, modeled after TikTok that will enable customers to purchase goods from a selected feed of images and videos.
The newest tech business to attempt to copy TikTok is Amazon. The world’s largest online retailer debuted Inspire on Thursday. Inspire is a short-form video and picture stream that enables users to browse and purchase things from content made by influencers, businesses, and other users.
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According to Amazon, Inspire will progressively roll out to US users through December and is exclusively accessible through the Amazon Shopping mobile app.
The launch comes after testing conducted earlier this year when it was discovered that Amazon was exploring a TikTok-like shopping stream in its app, which at the time had a separate navigation button at the bottom.
The Inspire feed now will require tapping a light bulb icon rather than the diamond logo that was observed in testing. According to Amazon, as Inspire gathers more information about the user’s preferences by monitoring their engagement and likes, the feed will eventually become more individually tailored.
In order to further enhance the product, the retailer intends to add more shoppable elements to Inspire as well as extra in-app functionality and content.
Mae Badiyan, Practically Pursia, and other Amazon Influencers have already been invited to post on Inspire by the corporation. The Amazon Influencer Program will allow the creators to profit from user purchases.
Amazon noted, “Inspire was designed to make it easy to explore new products, discover ideas, and seamlessly shop content created by other customers, influencers, and brands they love.”
Inspire, which specializes in short-form video content but also supports photographs, functions somewhat like a cross between Instagram and TikTok. Similar to Instagram, one may double-tap and give a red heart “like”. Scrolling Inspire is also similar to TikTok’s vertical video feed, where users may swipe up and down.
Amazon has been attempting to make it simpler for customers to explore products rather than only search for specific items, as the company has traditionally used static product photos and information to create a unified catalog. Despite these efforts, the majority of clients leave the vast internet marketplace quickly.
When it comes to combining product discovery and purchase under one roof, Amazon is perhaps one of the few businesses that might meaningfully challenge TikTok. The problem is convincing customers to make purchases using the short-form video app, but TikTok has already demonstrated its ability to generate sales of everything from cleaning supplies to makeup.
Despite partial bans on the platform in a number of USA states due to cybersecurity concerns, TikTok also seems to be stepping into the e-commerce market.
As it looks to establish its own product fulfillment facilities, the Chinese video-sharing site may directly compete with Amazon in the US, according to an October Axios article. The report stated that TikTok might be considering e-commerce as a potential key source of revenue based on recent job postings that have been listed.
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