Amazon.com Inc has launched a social feature called Spark that allows members to showcase and purchase products on its platforms, the retail giant’s first clear move into the world of social media.
Spark, which is currently only available for Amazon’s premium-paying Prime members, encourages users to share photos and videos, just like popular social media platforms Instagram and Pinterest. The new feature publicly launched on Tuesday for use on mobile devices that use Apple’s iOS operating system.
Spark users can tag products on their posts that are available on Amazon and anyone browsing the feeds can instantly find and purchase them on the platform.
Users can also respond to posts with “smiles,” equivalent to Facebook’s “likes.”
“We created Spark to allow customers to discover — and shop — stories and ideas from a community that likes what they like,” an Amazon spokeswoman said.
“When customers first visit Spark, they select at least five interests they’d like to follow and we’ll create a feed of relevant content contributed by others. Customers shop their feed by tapping on product links or photos with the shopping bag icon,” she said.
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