Amazon rolls out social commerce feature, not unlike TikTok

Amazon on Thursday launched a feature allowing shoppers to buy products from a customised feed of photos and videos, not dissimilar to ByteDance’s TikTok network.

The experimental feature will roll-0ut in the U.S. after a trial of selected customers in its launch phase, where users can select their interests and receive the most relevant feeds.

The service, called Inspire, appears as a lightbulb-shaped icon in the app, showing a continuous feed of photos and videos featuring products that customers can like or purchase, said the Wall Street Journal. Shoppers can also purchase items by other customers, brands and influencers, a key social commerce opportunity that Amazon is keen to make a success.

Oliver Messenger, Amazon’s director of shopping, said in an interview, “Video-based content really helps customers to understand the product more.”

Yahoo stated the portal will curate content to shoppers’ interests, growing more attuned over time and that it was launched at a strategic time in the busy holiday season.

Monetising social experiences has not always gone successful for tech companies, with many stating algorithms conspire to exploit users for money.

Amazon previously launched its Influencer Program allowing content creators to make personalised pages on Amazon and earn money when users make purchases through customised links