Amazon undoubtedly has emerged as a winner over the years, today it has beaten even Google in terms of the number of searches carried on the platform. More product searches happen on Amazon than on Google and now Amazon is all set to challenge the dynamics of social networking.
Amazon Spark
Amazon in India has rolled out a social networking platform called Spark. The sole purpose of this social network is to allow people to search, follow and share interests just like other social networking sites. This social network is a part of Amazon.in website.
“Amazon Spark is a place to discover things from people who share your interests,” says Amazon. “Whether you’re looking for inspiration for home décor or seeking advice for the best long-distance running shoes, Spark makes it easy to discover—and shop—stories and ideas from a community that likes what you like,” the website mentions.
The Need
Taking a cue from the increasing popularity of Instagram and its subsequent entry into e-commerce, Amazon came up with this idea of Spark. Instagram will be launching e-commerce within its platform by mid next year and this could surface as a challenge to other e-commerce platforms. People already spend a lot of time browsing through the Instagram feeds and integrating the same with e-commerce could actually lead to impulse purchases by the users.
The Design
Hence, the design of Spark is inspired by an Instagram like feed in which based on a person’s interest, you can find relevant products. Since one is choosing interests, it becomes like a more personalized feed basis what you have chosen. One can make direct purchases from the feed and also follow and like other user’s posts. Just in place of likes, Spark uses smiles to reciprocate.
By first launching Scout, which allows users actively like and dislike a range of products and now Spark, Amazon is clearly not in a mood to let any competitor up their game and prove a threat in their territory. Rather Amazon is choosing to disrupt its own model and trying to reinvent every now and then to keep up with the times and likes of its customers.
