Amazon Launches TikTok-Inspired Shopping Feature

Amazon’s new “Inspire” feature will be available to some users this week in the form of a continuous feed of photos and videos of products that customers can purchase through its app.

Photo and video streams will be tailored to each user depending on their interests, allowing users to “like” a specific product before they purchase it.

The new feature will provide opportunities for Amazon to increase profits, as the company projected between $140 billion and $148 billion in fourth-quarter revenue in 2022, down from earlier projections of $155 billion.

Other companies, including Meta, Google’s Alphabet Inc. and Instagram, have launched similar social features in recent years to promote products available through their respective apps, as more than $226 billion was spent on social media advertising last year.

BIG NUMBER

$1.2 trillion. That’s the projected total in global social commerce sales in 2025, according to a study by Accenture. In 2021, global social commerce sales totaled $492 billion.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“The steady rise in time spent on social media reflects how essential these platforms are in our daily life,” Robin Murdoch, Accenture’s global software and platforms industry lead, told Forbes. “They’re reshaping how people buy and sell, which provides platforms and brands with new opportunities for user experiences and revenue streams.”

KEY BACKGROUND

Companies like Meta, Alphabet Inc., Instagram and now Amazon are taking advantage of social commerce opportunities as a result of TikTok’s success, including short reels now available on YouTube and Instagram integrating a shop tab into its app. Combining commerce and social media experiences could prove to be fruitful for some, as an estimated 4.5 billion people are active on social media while each user spends an average of two-and-a-half hours on preferred platforms, according to Statista. Forbes reported that social commerce sales represent 10% of e-commerce sales, though it is expected to grow to 17% in the next three years, while Oliver Wright, Accenture’s global consumer goods and services lead notes the appeal for social commerce “everywhere is overwhelming.”