Amazon has forayed into social networking (sort of) with Spark, an app that allows members to showcase and discuss products, and eventually sell them. For now, Amazon Spark is open only to Prime members and has been launched only on iOS-based mobile devices. However, it is fully expected that AMZN will make Spark available to Android devices in the relatively near future as well.
At first glance, Amazon Spark might look like competition for Pinterest, but since the actual format for the service is a feed-style interface, Instagram comes closer to it. With the help of Amazon Spark, users will be able to exchange photos and videos in a way that’s similar to how they do it on other platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
“Amazon Spark is a place to discover things from people who share your interests,” the company said in a blog post. It makes it “easy for customers to discover – and shop – stories and ideas from a community that likes what they like.”
Initially, customers will have to mark at least five interests that they would like to follow. Customers can select from a wide variety of categories, such as Books, Technology, Style & Fashion, Home Décor, Fitness, Toys, Games, Music, Cats, Internet of Things, BBQ, TV Binge Watching, and so on. The selected choices will help Amazon create a useful feed of relevant content.
Once the setup is completed by entering a name and activating the notification (optional) for the update, the next display will be a heavy feed of product ideas and other stores, notes TechCrunch. Customers can thereafter shop in their feeds by clicking on product links or photos with a shopping bag icon.
