Amazon launches a TikTok-like shopping feature to drive sales on its e-commerce platform

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Although the global pandemic-induced online shopping frenzy has slowed down, amid more consumers venturing out, social commerce is projected to remain a strong sales channel for retailers, brands, and e-commerce marketplaces. Between live streaming and big giants such as TikTok and Pinduoduo expanding their global presence to drive market share and customer acquisition, social commerce is projected to record strong growth over the next five years in the global market.

To compete with these leading social commerce firms, e-commerce marketplaces are also investing heavily in the space. Earlier in 2022, Walmart announced the launch of its creator platform, as part of its strategy to drive sales by leveraging the outreach of influencers and live streaming. In December 2022, Amazon, the leading global player in the e-commerce segment, also announced the launch of a social commerce shopping feature, as it seeks to drive sales and customers away from platforms such as TikTok.

• Inspire, the short-video format platform, allows consumers to explore products and ideas shared by brands, creators, and influencers. The feature has been specifically designed to attract young generation consumers as well as brands that turn to platforms such as TikTok for exploring products and driving sales and revenue.

Initially, Amazon made Inspire available for a limited set of customers in the United States. In 2023, PayNXT360 expects the retailer to roll out the video-shopping feature to all of its customers in the United States. While Inspire focuses on short-form video content, the retailer has also offered support for photos. This places the new feature launched by Amazon somewhere in between TikTok and Instagram. Similar to Instagram, consumers can double-tap the screen and like the content they see. On the other hand, consumers can scroll through the different video feeds, like what they do on TikTok.

Over the next few quarters, Amazon is expected to further optimize the user feed to drive more engagement and likes. Moreover, the retailer is also projected to integrate more shoppable features and other in-app functionalities to improve its TikTok-like shopping feature.

Amazon has already partnered with a few influencers to create content and post on Inspire. These creators or influencers receive the commission through the Amazon Influencer Program, whenever customers make a purchase through the shared content and product links. Along with influencers and creators, even brands can post content on the platform and interact with their customers in a more efficient and direct way. Sellers and vendors that are enrolled with Amazon are all eligible to leverage Inspire and drive sales for their respective businesses.

Over the years, Amazon has had the tendency of picking up popular social media formats to drive customer engagement and product sales. The retailer had launched several features and services by taking inspiration from various social media platforms such as Pinterest and YouTube, and now a TikTok-inspired shopping feature. The launch of Inspire is a clear indication that Amazon is seeking to make major inroads into the social commerce segment. Consequently, PayNXT360 expects Amazon to further increase its investment in the space over the next few quarters. Moreover, PayNXT360 also expects the retailer to launch Inspire in more global markets.

Notably, expanding the presence of Inspire will be crucial for Amazon and its ambitions in the social commerce space, as TikTok has been expanding its presence in the international markets rapidly. In November 2022, TikTok also launched its first in-app Shops feature in the United States, as part of its expanded e-commerce push and the strategy to drive e-commerce market share away from Amazon.

With the social commerce industry projected to record strong growth over the next few years, many players, including social media platforms have been making a bigger push in the segment. YouTube, for instance, is expanding its shopping features amid the slowdown in ad revenues. WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Meta, is also expanding its presence in the social commerce space. In India, WhatsApp launched in-app shopping capabilities for its users. The firm forged a strategic alliance with JioMart, owned by Reliance, thereby allowing consumers to shop for groceries through the messaging app.

These collaborations and new product launches are projected to further continue over the next three to four years, as social media platforms and e-commerce marketplaces seek to drive revenue and sales through social commerce channels.

To know more and gain a deeper understanding of the social commerce market in the United States, click here.