Amazon Live is Amazon’s latest foray into live streaming. Amazon has long been a player in the live streaming space with its Amazon Web Services division, but Amazon Live represents a new direction for the company. Amazon Live is a Twitch-like service that lets influencers broadcast a live video of them directly onto the Amazon platform where users can watch them and maybe even buy something that the influencers presented in their Amazon Live channel. This technology seems like the Twitch service which is primarily used for gaming, which was also acquired by Amazon. It will be interesting to see how Amazon Live develops and whether it becomes a major player in the live streaming space.
Amazon Live: Home shopping in a new dress?
The service was mentioned to Amazon Influencers already in 2020, but only since recently, Amazon shoppers can spot live streams of various influencers directly on the page of a particular product. Amazon Live has been gaining popularity as a way for influencers to reach and engage with their audiences in a new, interactive way.
Users that click on any such streams from influencers can then view the cast in a larger mode and even interact with the influencer, for instance, if they want to ask a question about the product or just socialize. If you liked the presentation you can also follow the Amazon Influencer, so you’d be notified about any new live streams.
Some streams might have only as little as a handful of people watching and other streams might have several thousands of people following the program, but even just the small groups sometimes feel more personal and less like TV. Everything that a user buys afterward might get the Amazon Live streamer a commission for the sale.
The whole system is an extension of the existing Amazon Influencer program, which branched out from their affiliate marketing program, to offer content creators and influencers a better platform for monetizing their online activities. You could possibly compare it to home shopping TV channels, but it feels a little less like an advertisement like that. However, it’s up to the Amazon Influencers how they want to structure their streams and how heavy or softly they pitch any products.
All of this, however, has been common practice in China for many years, and from a global point of view, this is merely “catching up” with the rest of the pack for Amazon.
YouTube: Amazon Launch Strategy 2022 – Amazon Live For Sellers 🚀 (Tatiana James)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvGOI3CdWs4&ab_channel=TatianaJames
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been done by Dmytro Sidelnikov. The screenshots in the body of the article are owned by Amazon.
