Amazon Succumbs To TikTok Fever After Meta, YouTube

Amazon.com Inc AMZN tested a feature in its app showing users a TikTok-style photo and video feed of products for shoppers to share with other users, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Amazon joins other major technology firms like Meta Platforms Inc META and Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL that gave in to the TikTok popularized short video frenzy.

Amazon tested the portal under the internal name "Inspire," appearing as a diamond widget on the home page of Amazon's app as per Israeli-based artificial intelligence firm Watchful Technologies Ltd.

The widget brings shoppers to a feed that shows a stream of images and videos of products. Shoppers can like, share, and ultimately purchase items, and Watchful researchers said the portal also features video content.

Around 67% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 use the TikTok app as per a survey, WSJ writes.

In February, Meta launched its short-video product, "Reels," for all global Facebook users. Separately, more than 1.5 billion logged-in users watch YouTube "Shorts" a month, Google said in June after investing in short-form videos.

Amazon also posts live videos from creators on its website and tries to court elite social-media users to its influencer program. Its Chinese peer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's BABA live-streaming shopping market disrupted its primary businesses, Taobao and Tianmao.

China's two most prominent and fastest-growing video-sharing apps, Kuaishou and Douyin, owned by TikTok parent ByteDance are wreaking havoc on Alibaba. 

China's shopping extravaganza "618" registered a GMV of 695.9 billion RMB from the major e-commerce platforms, including traditional e-commerce platforms and live-streaming e-commerce platforms. 

Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 1.1% at $88.55 on the last check Wednesday.

Photo by Olivier-Bergeron via Unsplash