Amazon’s TikTok-Like Inspire Platform Is Shutting Down

Many social media platforms were quick to discover that due to the amount of time users spent on them, it would be a great way to display and advertise products for sale. Amazon tried something similar, except that instead of turning a social media platform into a shopping platform, Amazon tried to turn a shopping platform into a social media platform with Inspire. However, the TikTok-style feed is no more as Amazon has confirmed that it is shutting down Inspire.

According to a report from TechCrunch, Amazon has decided to shut down Inspire. Amazon has since confirmed the shutdown with the publication. According to a company spokesperson, “We regularly evaluate various features to better align with what customers tell us matters most, and as part of that, Inspire is no longer available.”

Amazon has not bothered to explain the reason behind the platform’s shutdown. However, if you were using it, it looks like you won’t be able to anymore. The spokesperson added, “Beyond Amazon, we know that customers look for inspiration and product recommendations in social feeds, and we’re innovating to make shopping for Amazon products more enjoyable through seamless social media integrations.”

A brief history

Amazon first launched Inspire in 2022, giving users a way to browse products on its platform in a TikTok-like feed. As we said, this was an interesting approach. Especially given how some social media platforms, such as Instagram, have also become shopping apps. The platform was also launched around the same time TikTok began testing shopping features in the US.

The company had seen success with the feature in China and was hoping to replicate it for the US market. However, not enough creators were enticed by Inspire to keep it going. There was some controversy back in 2023 over payment. Some creators called out Amazon for reportedly offering to pay only $12,500 for up to 500 videos. This essentially resulted in an average of $25 per video. This was roughly a tenth of the going rate at that time.

This isn’t the first time that Amazon has tried to leverage social media’s popularity to drive customers to its website and products. Amazon had previously teamed up with Instagram and Snapchat. Perhaps Amazon should leave social media to the pros and focus on its retail business.