2022 has been a busy year for marketers – we had a lot of updates and features released across almost every social media platform. And we have one more update to take a closer look at, this time breaking the social media bubble.
The news came from Amazon. After announcing plans to start investing in social commerce earlier this year, the company has officially launched Inspire , a content hub featuring short-form videos and photos, where customers will be able to Cambodia Email List 195181 Contact Leads discover, explore and purchase products in a different format than we’re used to seeing on Amazon’s marketplace.
And this isn’t the first time Amazon
has adopted a social media model to inspire its shoppers. The retailer has already offered features similar to Pinterest, Instagram and even a YouTube knockoff, Amazon Live .
But why does the world’s largest e-commerce company decide to take this step to enter the hotly contested universe of social media? And, more importantly, does this make sense for its customers? Well, we asked ourselves these questions too, and we’ll try to answer them in this article.
How will Inspire work?
Essentially, we’re talking about a TikTok-style shopping feed, where brands and creators will be able to opt for new content formats to inspire (terrible pun, we know) their audience.
To enter Inspire, you’ll need to open the Amazon Shopping app and tap the Inspire icon. And before you start browsing, each user will need to choose what they want to see from over 20 interest options to choose from, including:
The app will then build a personalized feed based on these responses. Again, very similar to TikTok’s first steps.
But why would users be interested in another TikTok, if we already have one? Amazon must have thought of that too, and brought a great ally to the table: practicality .
Unlike TikTok, Amazon’s Inspire has created a full shopping journey within the app.
When the customer is interested in a product, he just needs to press a button at the bottom of the window and he will be directed to the Amazon link, where he can buy it, see more details or put it on the “Wish List”. And, magic! Inspire pulled out of its hat the conversion into a sale (one of the most complex conversions).
Personally, I can’t wait to start testing this new feature and get my first impressions, but we’ll have to wait a little longer.
The company has started rolling out the feature to select users in the US and only then will it be available to everyone. For now, we’ll keep an eye out for potential release dates.
But does short-form video really make sense for Amazon?
For those who like to keep up with trends, we are increasingly seeing short-form videos everywhere. Instagram, for example, is prioritizing short-form videos with Reels, YouTube has launched YouTube Shorts , and Twitter is also enabling video content for its users.
Not to mention, of course, TikTok, the pioneer of this format and source of inspiration for these (and many other) examples, including Amazon’s most recent feature.
If you’re wondering whether this new approach to social commerce makes sense for Amazon, the answer is: yes .
Short-form videos are here to stay, at least for now, and recent data from Google confirms that nearly 40% of Gen Z already prefer to search on TikTok and Instagram over Google Search.
That said, I’m not really surprised by Amazon’s decision to invest in this universe, as it’s the language its customers are increasingly speaking. According to Amazon’s Chief Purchasing Officer Oliver Messenger, “ video-based content really helps [customers] understand the product better .”
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But will Inspire be able to compete with Instagram and TikTok? It’s clear that the feature is aimed at diverting customers’ attention from these other apps, but will it be enough? For this question, I’m not sure if the answer is still yes.
Inspire offers a full shopping day, which is great, but it only promotes products .
TikTok users are looking to engage with creators and learn new things in addition to shopping. Not to mention that users are increasingly looking for real content rather than “build to sell” content. So it remains to be seen whether Inspire will deliver on that goal.
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