Amazon is focusing on e-commerce development through social media applications – channelnews

E-commerce giant Amazon is turning to platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to drive revenue for its e-commerce business.

The company spent two years negotiating with CEOs of other tech giants, which resulted in a partnership last year.

However, according to media reports, the partnership has been met with opposition from within Amazon.

According to a report from The Information, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy met separately with his Meta counterpart Mark Zuckerberg, as well as Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to discuss the 24-month partnership.

But internal pushback at Amazon stemmed from concerns from some executives that partnering with other platforms would encourage online shoppers to migrate to those apps rather than buy products directly from the Amazon homepage.

In November, Amazon introduced an initiative called “Project Handshake,” which began running ads on Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat platforms that allowed users to buy Amazon products without leaving the apps.

Amazon has dismissed concerns about declining traffic to its website, saying ads placed on social media apps do not drive customers away from the Amazon app but make it easier for users to buy products on the platform they are already on.

“Amazon is making it easier for customers to shop on social media by expanding in-app shopping,” an Amazon spokesperson said Post.

Amazon’s partnerships with social media apps come with some risks, especially as those apps develop their own e-commerce offerings.

TikTok launched TikTok Shop, which lets users buy products directly in the app. Meta lets Facebook and Instagram users set up stores on their sites.

Amazon’s partnership with social media apps could also threaten its lucrative A$59.07 billion annual advertising business.

Amazon charges sellers to increase the visibility of their products so that shoppers can browse them by typing a query into the search engine on the Amazon website. However, these ads are not visible to users of other apps who buy Amazon products without logging in to the site.

Reports indicate that Amazon employees working on “Project Handshake” plan to expand the initiative so that shoppers can also find and purchase products via videos and AI-powered chatbots.