{"id":7456,"date":"2017-07-19T08:51:49","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T08:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/amazon-launches-spark-a-shoppable-feed-of-stories-and-photos-aimed-at-prime-members-5.html"},"modified":"2017-07-19T08:51:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T08:51:49","slug":"amazon-launches-spark-a-shoppable-feed-of-stories-and-photos-aimed-at-prime-members-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/amazon-launches-spark-a-shoppable-feed-of-stories-and-photos-aimed-at-prime-members-5.html","title":{"rendered":"Amazon launches Spark, a shoppable feed of stories and photos aimed at Prime members"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Amazon today is launching Amazon Spark, a new feature aimed at improving product discovery, which is seemingly inspired by Instagram and its use of shoppable photos. Similarly, Amazon Spark users are encouraged to post stories, ideas and images of products they love, which others can react to with comments and \u201csmiles\u201d \u2013 Amazon\u2019s own version of the Like or Favorite button.<\/p>\n

The retailer has been quietly testing Amazon Spark in beta for a few months before today\u2019s launch to consumers in the U.S. The goal with the new program is to shift some of the social activity around products taking place off-site back to Amazon, where product inspiration can translate directly into purchases with a click of a button.<\/p>\n

In this way, Amazon Spark could be seen as something of a Pinterest competitor, as well, but the actual format for the service is a feed-style interface \u2013 which is why the comparison with Instagram seems more apt.<\/p>\n

To get started with Amazon Spark, you have to use the Amazon mobile app, as the feature is not designed for desktop use at this time.<\/p>\n

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When you first join Spark \u2013 it\u2019s available through the \u201cPrograms Features\u201d menu option in the app\u2019s navigation \u2013 you\u2019re asked to select at least five interests you want to follow. Using this information, Amazon Spark will create a customized feed of products, imagery and ideas that will relate to the sort of things you like to shop for, or learn more about.<\/p>\n

You can select more than five interests, but you can\u2019t proceed until you\u2019ve chosen a minimum of five categories.<\/p>\n

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    These interests vary, and generally tend to match up with Amazon\u2019s own popular merchandise categories, like \u201cBooks,\u201d \u201cStyle Fashion,\u201d \u201cTechnology,\u201d \u201cHome D\u00e9cor,\u201d \u201cMusic,\u201d \u201cFitness,\u201d \u201cToys Games,\u201d and many more. But there are also a number of niche categories like \u201cTV Bingewatching,\u201d \u201cCats,\u201d \u201cInternet of Things,\u201d \u201cBBQ\u201d and others that are much more specific and narrowly focused.<\/p>\n

    Once you\u2019ve completed the setup \u2013 which also includes entering your name and optionally enabling notifications for updates to your Spark posts and responses to comments \u2013 you\u2019ll then be presented with an image-heavy feed of product ideas and other stories. In some cases, these posts will read more like a product review \u2013 someone detailing their personal experience with an item, for example.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Other times, you might just see a beautiful photo, where the product being sold is less obvious \u2013 similar to the sort of fashion inspiration photos you\u2019d come across on Instagram.<\/p>\n

    When a photo contains a product Amazon sells, there will be a shopping bag icon in the bottom right corner with a number that indicates how many items from the photo can be shopped on Amazon\u2019s site.<\/p>\n

    For example, in the below photo of a woman watching the sunset at Yosemite, a click on the shopping bag icon will take you to the product detail page for the hat she\u2019s wearing.<\/p>\n

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    In addition to lifestyle imagery, Spark posts can also contain product photos, text, links or polls.<\/p>\n

    The ability to shop the photos on Amazon\u2019s site is a much more seamless experience than on Instagram, where often the fashion labels\u2019 Instagram handles are tagged in the photos, but you\u2019re not provided with a way to go directly to product pages themselves for the numerous pieces of clothing and accessories tagged.<\/p>\n

    Or, if you manage to hunt the product in question down, you sometimes find it\u2019s no longer sold or out of stock. That shouldn\u2019t happen on Amazon Spark, thanks to the way the product images are connected with Amazon inventory.<\/p>\n

    To some extent, the retailer sees Amazon Spark as a new frontier for product reviews. With Spark, Amazon is moving away from rewarding \u201cTop Reviewers\u201d who write up their thoughts and rate items, and is rather embracing a new system that rewards those who are \u201cEnthusiasts\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

    Enthusiasts will also receive a badge, which appears when they post to Spark or write product reviews.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Anyone can become an Enthusiast by contributing to Spark, but there\u2019s a catch \u2013 to post, you have to be an Amazon Prime member. Non-Prime members can browse Spark\u2019s feed, but can\u2019t post or comment.<\/p>\n

    Encouraging product discovery is a newer focus for Amazon, which has also been steadily upgrading its curated shop of product ideas, \u201cInteresting Finds,\u201d with personalized suggestions based on users\u2019 activity<\/a> and shopping patterns, through a feature called \u201cMy Mix.\u201d It also quietly began testing its own invite-only influencer program<\/a>, which allows consumers to connect with Amazon products via influencer posts across social media.<\/p>\n

    Amazon Spark isn\u2019t directly connected with either of those earlier programs, but it does have a similar goal of helping people more serendipitously discover new things they might like to buy.<\/p>\n

    It also lays the groundwork for a social network that lives right on Amazon, as customers\u2019 user profiles \u2013 which have been around for years, but aren\u2019t really well known \u2013 now become a much more prominent part of the Amazon experience.<\/p>\n

    In the future, one could imagine that users will also be able to generate some sort of income via their Spark postings. Making\u00a0money from product suggestions posted to Spark is not an aspect to this program Amazon is prepared to discuss today. But an influencer-courting service like this will eventually need to nail down a monetization angle if it truly wants to challenge Instagram \u2013 a place where the most-followed users can make five or six figures<\/a> for their posted photos and campaigns.<\/p>\n

    In the near-term, however, Amazon will focus on helping seed Spark with more content. On July 30, it will begin to allow users to share their previously written product reviews from their profile to Spark, for example.<\/p>\n

    Amazon Spark is available today in the U.S., only in the Amazon iPhone application.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/jFbEsKFBdOU\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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