According to Amazon’s website, all U.S. consumers may use the app’s TikTok-like shopping stream. After testing it last summer, Amazon launched a TikTok-like shopping stream to select U.S. consumers in December.
The new short-form video and photo stream lets users browse and purchase from influencer, brand, and customer content.
To use Inspire, open the Amazon Shopping app, sign in, and hit the “light bulb” symbol on the bottom navigation bar. To customize your Inspire feed, you’ll be asked to pick from over 20 interests, like cosmetics, skin care, pets, gaming, plants, hiking, interior design, travel, jogging, and more.
Double-tap any screen to “like” content. Then, like TikTok’s vertical video stream, you swipe up from the bottom to watch the next video. TikTok-style engagement buttons are on the right.
If you like anything, scroll horizontally through the little buttons that display goods in the movie at the bottom of your screen. Clicking on a product opens an overlay window above the video. Click “See all details” on the product page to buy or add the item to a list.
Amazon Influencers can publish to Inspire. Creators earn compensation when buyers buy their stuff. Customers can submit product reviews to Inspire, but not posts. The Inspire feed won’t pay customers for product reviews. Brand Registry suppliers and sellers with active Brand Stores can publish to Inspire.
“We invent every day to make shopping easy and fun,” stated Amazon buying director Oliver Messenger in an email. “Inspire is our new shopping experience that connects Amazon customers with shoppable content from other customers, the latest influencers, and many brands. As a result, customers may discover new products or gain shopping inspiration matched to their preferences in a few taps and then buy them on Amazon.”
Inspire’s U.S. debut follows Amazon’s long history of using social media forms to engage customers and inspire purchases. In 2016, the e-commerce behemoth released Interesting Finds, a Pinterest-like service. After a few years, Amazon Spark, an Instagram clone, was discontinued in 2019.
Amazon uses popular formats to sell, unlike TikTok. Social media is used to study, entertain, and shop. Amazon’s short-form videos may not be enjoyable or useful for buying. The Amazon mobile app for iOS and Android offers Amazon Inspire to all U.S. consumers. Inspire is not desktop-accessible.
