Amazon’s in-app TikTok-esque shopping feed is now available to all customers in the United States, according to the company’s website. The feature was rolled out to select US customers in December after Amazon was spotted experimenting with a TikTok-esque shopping feed last summer.
The new short video and photo feed allows consumers to explore and shop for products and ideas based on content created by influencers, brands and other customers.
To get started with Inspire, you’ll need to open the Amazon Shopping app, log into your account, and then tap the Inspire “bulb” icon in the bottom navigation bar. You will then be prompted to choose from over 20 interests, including categories such as makeup, skincare, pets, gaming, plants, hiking, interior design, travel, running, and more to personalize your Inspire feed.
You can double-tap anywhere on the screen to “like” the content you see. As for the scrolling experience, it’s like using TikTok’s vertical video feed, where you swipe up from the bottom to see the next video. Engagement buttons are located on the right side of the screen, just like on TikTok.
If you see something you like, you can scroll horizontally through the little buttons that display the products in the video at the bottom of your screen. When you click on a product, it appears in an overlay window on top of the video. You can select the “See all details” button to go to the item’s product page where you can make a purchase or add the item to a list.
Image Credits: Amazon
Creators enrolled in the Amazon Influencer program can post content on Inspire. When customers shop through a creator’s content, the creator is eligible for commission. Customers cannot post on Inspire, but can submit a product review, which may appear in Inspire. If a customer’s product review does appear in the Inspire feed, they will not earn a commission. In addition, brands can post to Inspire, including suppliers and sellers enrolled in Brand Registry with an active Brand Store.
“We invent every day to make shopping easy and fun,” Oliver Messenger, director of Amazon Shopping, said in an emailed statement. “Inspire is our new shopping experience that connects Amazon customers with shoppable content created by other customers, the latest influencers and a wide range of brands. With just a few taps, customers can discover new products or get inspiration on what to buy, all tailored to their interests, and then shop for those items on Amazon.
The launch of Inspire across the US comes as Amazon already has a long history of integrating popular social media formats as a way to engage shoppers and inspire purchases. For example, the e-commerce giant launched a Pinterest-like feature in 2016 called Interesting Finds. A few years later, Amazon launched an Instagram clone called Amazon Spark, but ended the program in 2019 after only a few years.
Unlike social media platforms like TikTok, Amazon’s take on popular formats is to push products. People browse social media platforms for more than looking for purchase ideas, they want to learn new things and be entertained. While Amazon records short videos, it’s unclear if it will be able to deliver a product that is both entertaining and rewarding while shopping.
Amazon Inspire is currently available to all US customers through the Amazon mobile app on iOS and Android. Inspire is not accessible via desktop.