Amazon tries out a TikTok-like feed to make shopping addictive

The Future. Amazon may soon introduce a TikTok-style feed of products on its app, tentatively called “Inspire.” If the feature is ever released and Amazon’s livestream-shopping feature is able to recruit influential talent, the company may have the ingredients to create… well, the TikTok of retail. We can already hear advertisers lining up.

Endless shop
WSJ reports that Amazon wants customers to scroll and shop.

• Accessible via the diamond widget on the app’s homepage, the feature allows users to scroll through a feed of product images and videos.
• The content can be liked and shared, and the products can be purchased directly from the feed.
• It’s still being tested among a small group of Amazon employees, and the company says that Inspire could change significantly before going public… if it ever does.

The shoppable feed comes on the heels of Amazon dipping its toe in another major social trend: livestream shopping. The retail giant has been paying top dollar to woo TikTok and YouTube influencers to its social-shopping service, Amazon Live.

All the TikToks
Nowadays, everyone (including Instagram and YouTube) wants to be more like TikTok. And it’s not hard to see why.

• Two-thirds of teens are on TikTok, according to Pew Research.
• It’s become a key hub for book sales and launching new music.
• A study out of Zhejiang University found that TikTok is addictive because the way the algorithm feeds you videos activates the reward centers of your brain, flooding it with dopamine.

Amazon is probably hoping that capturing that unique combo of clout and addictiveness will drive sales up even more