TikTok was a trending app in India before it got banned. Soon after, Instagram and YouTube launched reels, and they have become quite famous in a matter of few days.
Inspired by the reel feature and its increasing engagement, Amazon launched a new app feature called ‘INSPIRE.’ The new Amazon update is believed to engage more audiences and increase sales.
The customers can scroll through personalized shopping recommendations via short videos and photos of influencers, brands, and other customers.
Amazon has a significant history of coming up with new marketing strategies inspired by other trending apps. It launched ‘Amazon Collections’, a feature inspired by Pinterest in 2013, and ‘Amazon Stream’ in 2015 with a ‘my saves’ filter, which yet again was inspired by Pinterest.
But what was the reason for Amazon to launch INSPIRE? Small brands started directly on TikTok and Instagram via reels, which reduced sales on Amazon. This new Amazon feature is supposed to deviate the customer’s attention from TikTok to Inspire.
According to Oliver Messenger (Director of shopping at Amazon),” Video-based content helps them (customers) to understand the product more.”
In the wake of Instagram shopping, Amazon’s sales went down from $155 billion to $148 billion in 2022 (source: Forbes). Thus, creating a need for Amazon to come up with a better marketing strategy.
We all know how engaging reels can be. When we decide to spend 10 minutes on reels, it turns into a full-blown hour, and we have no idea how.
The feature is only available to select Amazon customers in the U.S. but once successful, it would soon be made available to other customers as well. Also clearing any doubts you might have- Amazon Inspire, as of now is available for Amazon’s mobile shopping app only.
How Does Amazon Inspire Work?
The TikTok-like feature on Amazon is accessible by clicking on the ‘bulb’ symbol in the navigation bar. However, the high-level placement on the navigation bar remains the same.
To start your Inspire experience, log in to your Amazon account and tap the Inspire icon (the bulb). Now you will see some popular recommendations like pets, gaming, plants, makeup, skincare, and others.
You can choose as many interests as you want, and you will receive product recommendations for the same. You will also get notified of any new product launches from your interests.
Amazon Inspire’s AI works similarly to TikTok and Instagram’s AI. Just like Instagram, you have influencers’ pictures with captions and the option to like the picture with a red heart. You can even share the picture on various social media platforms.
Similar to TikTok, you can vertically scroll different images and product recommendations from your liked influencer picture. After clicking on the product, you will see a popup view of the products, and clicking on ‘see full details’ will redirect you to the linked product page on Amazon.
From here, you can proceed to view the product and make a purchase just like you’ve been doing on Amazon.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Amazon constantly works on AI for better product recommendations. They claim that with better user engagement, making purchases, liking pictures, and viewing products, the customers will receive more personalized suggestions.
Amazon has launched this feature as an experiment and would work on additional in-app functionalities and content to further enhance the user experience and engagement.
How Would Amazon Get Influencers to Post and Share on Amazon Inspire?
According to TechCrunch, Amazon has already reached many famous influencers like Mae Badiyan and Practically Pursia. Amazon will get more traffic on the products shared by the influencers, and the influencers would make money via Amazon’s Influencer Program, so definitely a win-win.
Not only influencers but others have a choice to get featured on Inspire. They can share their shopping and product experience along with product pictures.
Pictures showing the person wearing that apparel have a higher chance to get featured on Inspire since it gives a real insight to other buyers of what the apparel might look like.
Even the brands can send their photo/video shoots appropriate for Inspire.
Summing Up
After the company saw a fall in customer satisfaction via the displeased comments and low ratings, it was high time for Amazon to come up with a solid marketing strategy.
The new Inspire feature will not only attract customers but also the influencers that Amazon has been trying to bring on board for a long time. The influencers can also increase their public reach with a personalized page on Amazon.
Now it is a matter of time to see what this new Amazon feature does to increase its sales.