Amazon's new TikTok-like shopping feature: Inspire

Amazon, today's most important e-commerce platform, is introducing a new Inspire feature that offers a TikTok-like shopping experience. The company recently announced the launch of Inspire, a new short-form video and photo feed that allows consumers to discover products and ideas and shop content created by brands and other customers.

The feature is designed to distract consumers from apps like TikTok, where brands can market directly to consumers, and instead drive sales on Amazon. While Inspire focuses on short video content, it is also supported by photos, creating a hybrid form between TikTok and Instagram. The statement made by Amazon is that the algorithm that tracks users' interactions and likes will improve the user experience as time progresses.

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What Does the New Feature Offer?

It is a fact that people today want to laugh, have fun, learn new things and interact with producers as well as seeing the products they are interested in. With Inspire, Amazon aims to make shopping easier and more fun. This new experience gives customers access to content from top influencers, other users and a wide network of brands, and helps them discover new ideas and products in just a few clicks. With Inspire, customers will be able to customize their feed by selecting product categories. They will also be able to like and buy products in the feed. Influencers will be able to produce the products and content that will be included in the feed.

How to use Inspire?

To start using Inspire, customers will open the Amazon Shopping app and tap Inspire's icon. When first launched, they will be prompted to choose from more than 20 interests to personalize their Inspire section, including makeup, skincare, pets, gaming, plants, hiking, interior design, travel, running and more. While Inspire focuses on short-form video content, it also offers support for photos. Just like Instagram, you can double tap anywhere on the screen to like any content you like. However, you can also navigate through the Inspire experience, like using TikTok's vertical video interface, where you swipe up from the bottom to see the next video. The interaction buttons are also covered on the right side of the screen, as in TikTok. With these similar features, Inspire, which does not make itself unfamiliar, has the potential to be a turning point for Amazon.

Since August 2022, Amazon has been testing Inspire, and after the testing process, it first offered the feature to certain users in the US in December. According to the information provided by Amazon, Inspire will be available to the entire US in the coming period. There is currently no information about when the feature will be available for other countries.