Inspire, a new short-form video and photo feed that enables users to browse items and ideas and make purchases from content made by influencers, brands, and other users, has been launched, the firm announced this week.
The purpose of the new product is to divert consumers’ attention away from TikTok and other apps where brands may directly market to users in order to increase sales on Amazon.com.
The launch comes after testing was conducted earlier this year. It was discovered that Amazon was experimenting with a TikTok-like shopping stream in its app, which at the time had its own navigation button at the bottom.
In the version launching now, that high-level placement in the main navigation remains the same; however, the Inspire feed will now be accessible with a tap of a light bulb icon instead of the diamond icon that was seen in tests.
The company said the shopping function will initially roll out to select consumers in the U.S. in early December, and will become freely available to all U.S. customers in the months that follow.
