What Did Amazon Do This Week? - 21-07-2022
TIKTOK: ET TU AMAZON?
In the seemingly never-ending bizarro world we’re currently living through, every app’s user interface is suddenly terrible and should be abandoned. People apparently will only watch short videos of people dancing, faking emotions and pranking one another. As a result, Amazon is,
like so many others, trialling a TikTok-esque feed, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Called ‘Inspire’ the feature is more of a separate feed and; “appears as a diamond widget on the home page of Amazon’s app, according to Israeli-based artificial intelligence firm Watchful Technologies Ltd., which has tracked the feature’s use. The widget brings shoppers to a feed that shows a stream of images and videos of products, with shoppers able to like, share and ultimately purchase items. While most of the feed now appears as still pictures, Watchful researchers said the portal also features video content.”
SO WHAT?
This is a test, not the final product. Like other platforms, Amazon doesn’t want TikTok to eat its lunch, and Amazon knows that the Chinese array of apps is good at moving units. While other platforms have scaled back live-selling plans, Amazon has the budget, logistics and time to explore this faster and more efficiently than any other platform out there. ‘Inspire’ is a good test to see whether Amazon can move people from functional shopping to more serendipitous purchases.
Amazon’s NFL coverage went live. /Deadline
‘Making The Cut’ began its third season. /THR
Amazon announced the winners of the $10k scholarship competition. /Amazon
‘Modern Love’ is getting an Amsterdam version. /Variety
‘A League of their Own’ has had a second season approved. /Variety
Twitch was fined $33,000 by Russia because of a 31-second ‘fake’ news video. /Reuters
Amazon approved ‘Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge’, Tamera Mowry-Housley As Host. /Deadline
Amazon’s podcasts are doing well. /Verge
Twitch is pulling streamers over into gambling sites. /Bloomberg
Amazon confirmed Nielsen will report viewing numbers for ‘Thursday Night Football’ - a first for streaming. /WSJ
Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ money pit had multiple red carpets. /Deadline
AWS announced India’s largest tyre manufacturer is now using AWS. /Amazon
Amazon fixed a major Ring vulnerability. /Mashable
Amazon plans to test retail robots underneath the old Macy’s in New York. /MyNorthwest
Amazon moves physical retail tech teams into cloud division. /Geekwire
Amazon Japan and istyle announced a collaboration to improve customer shopping experience in the cosmetics and beauty industries. /Amazon
Amazon is talking up voice commerce again… /PYMNTS
Amazon will charge an extra fee to certain sellers during the holiday season. /Reuters
Amazon launched a climate-pledge-friendly home line. /Apartment Therapy
Amazon is experimenting with Sellers using UPS for returns. /ECB
Amazon confirmed details of the annual ‘Book Friday’ event. /Amazon
Amazon Australia launched interactive tours. /Amazon
Amazon is testing a feature in its app, called ‘Inspire’, which would show users a TikTok-style feed of product photos and videos. /WSJ
Amazon told Fulfillment by Amazon merchants to pay a fee of 35¢ per item sold in the US and Canada from October 15 to January 22, citing rising expenses. /CNBC
Amazon announced it will introduce ‘Unsuitable Inventory Investigations’ program policy from Sept 2. /Channelx
Amazon Fashion launched a new Virtual Try-On service in Europe. /Channelx
Amazon launched and new FBA page design. /Amazon
Amazon launched Products Reconciliation, a new tool that helps you compare your product listing with existing products in the Amazon catalogue. /Amazon
Amazon listed more product exemptions for automated return authorisations. /Amazon
Amazon announced that the European Fulfilment Network (EFN) between the UK and the EU is now fully reactivated. /Amazon
Amazon confirmed the FTC is investigating sign-up and cancellation processes for its Prime. /Reuters
Amazon kicked off a month of volunteering. /Amazon
Amazon opened another delivery station in Brooklyn, New York. /Cleveland
Amazon Air workers walked out over pay and conditions this week. /CNN
Six ex-Amazon Care employees criticised the company's fast and frugal ways, including prioritising pleasing patients over providing the best standard of care. /WaPo
Amazon and United Launch Alliance have partnered and will bring 250 jobs to Decatur. /WAFF
A coalition of 70 TikTok stars, with a combined 51M+ followers, pledges to cease work with Amazon until the company meets the demands of the Amazon Labor Union. /WaPo
Albany Amazon workers wish to unionise. /Reuters
Walmart is exploring a matchmaker marketplace for influencers. /Reuters
What advertisers can expect from Amazon’s NFL offering. /ModernRetail
Walmart entered a deal with Paramount+ to compete with Amazon. /Reuters
Over 65 yo’s watch 7x more TV than Gen-Z. /Bloomberg