* This article is a media “Glossy” article.
With sales of products that have gone viral on TikTok videos often skyrocketing, it was only a matter of time before e-commerce companies embarked on short, scrollable video formats.
Introducing the Amazon Inspire Feed
In December 2022, Amazon launched its own version of the new feature, the Inspire feed, on the Amazon Shopping app.
The company hasn’t compared the new feature to TikTok, but the format is familiar. Users can tap icons at the bottom of the app to scroll through full-screen video and photo content with product listings.
With the launch, e-commerce giant Amazon joins a growing group of e-commerce startups offering short, scrollable videos dedicated to shopping. Those companies include Trendio, a beauty platform launched by a former Amazon employee that same month.
Amazon Shopping Director Oliver Messenger said of the driving force behind the development of Amazon Inspire:
“What customers wanted more was about open-ended discovery. Unexpected discoveries when you have a little spare time. It’s not always clear what you want.”
Inspire, which has been quietly made available to a limited number of users, includes video and image content from product reviews, videos and photos created by influencers in the Amazon Influencer Program, and Amazon’s Brand Registry. The feed incorporates photos from posts that brands on Amazon have created for their Amazon Posts social feeds.
Brands cited by Amazon representatives include Adidas, Reebok, Lemme, Honest Beauty, L’Oréal and Maybelline.
Unlike TikTok and other short-form video social platforms, users cannot create content for Inspire at this time. So far, Amazon hasn’t released numbers on active users, engagement or sales.
Content is presented to users based on AI algorithms that determine their interests.
A company that specializes in beauty and provides a TikTok-style feed
Amazon Inspire is the latest TikTok-style e-commerce platform to launch in recent years. Amazon’s version caters to all product categories, but many of the startups in this space (an e-commerce platform with TikTok-style videos) are beauty-focused. Trendio, Flip, Supergreat, etc.
Trendio, for example, was launched in December 2022 by Alex Perez-Tenessa, former vice president of Prime Video US and former head of beauty at CVS. Trendio’s team includes members from Amazon and Glossier.
Perez-Tenessa explains why startup Trendio chose beauty as the focus of its app. “Right now, customers say they can’t tell the difference between a product just by reading text. I think video will go mainstream because they need to see the product.”
Beauty brands featured on Trendio include Nudestix, Merit, Avene, Relevant, Exa, PYT, Youthforia, Ursa Major ( Ursa Major), Allies of Skin, Wldkat, Prados Beauty and Kjaer Weis.
Potential of Amazon Inspire
Various products that have gone viral on TikTok have led to a surge in sales on Amazon. Amazon’s current beauty bestseller list includes several products that have gone viral on TikTok.
For example, Mielle’s scalp oil is number one, Essence’s Lash Princess mascara is number two, and Hero Cosmetics’ acne patch is number three. Amazon also lists these viral TikTok products on its own “Internet Famous” landing page. The landing page, dubbed “Secret” by Elle magazine, has no link from the main homepage.
With a TikTok-like feed, the shopping app also incorporates livestream shopping. Amazon is now offering a livestream shopping feature to all users separately (from Inspire). Asked if live streaming will be incorporated into the Inspire feed, Messenger said “it will be in the future,” and that “one holistic place to find shoppable content” is what customers want. It is said that it is what is required from.
Amazon influencers working with Inspire include beauty, fashion and lifestyle influencer May Badiyan. He calls Inspire a “game changer that delivers the perfect combination of entertainment, education and shopping.”
Meanwhile, interiors influencer Practical Persia said, “My audience doesn’t have to go elsewhere and look for products on their own, and it provides the convenience of purchasing products from content within the Amazon app. , will help me grow the business I built on Amazon.”
Conversely, social platforms are also introducing social shopping into short videos. TikTok ads are enabled for shoppable links, while Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts allow brands to add shoppable links.
Potential Challenges for Amazon
The question for both Amazon and social shopping startups is whether users will find broad acceptance of short video-style features on e-commerce-only platforms.
“It’s very questionable whether people are going to watch videos on Amazon when they don’t want to shop,” said general manager of North America and EMEA at mobile ad company Nativex. , Mr. Ikai Lee. Nativex is a company in charge of media buying and creative management for brand advertising, including social platforms such as TikTok. Lee previously worked for ByteDance, where he helped roll out TikTok internationally. “People have their own situations and ways of using different platforms,” he said. For example, Amazon “has a very strong image of ‘we are a shopping platform’ to consumers,” he said.
Messenger said Amazon’s goal isn’t to compete with existing social platforms, but to appeal to shoppers who love to browse.
“We are not social media,” Messenger said. “Our goal is to delight our customers with a product they really want and build something that leverages our natural strengths in a way that is natural rather than forced.”
[original text]
(Text: LIZ FLORA, Translation: Yoshiko Nue, Editing: Yukako Yamagishi)
Source: BusinessInsider
Emma Warren is a well-known author and market analyst who writes for 24 news breaker. She is an expert in her field and her articles provide readers with insightful and informative analysis on the latest market trends and developments. With a keen understanding of the economy and a talent for explaining complex issues in an easy-to-understand manner, Emma’s writing is a must-read for anyone interested in staying up-to-date on the latest market news.