Snapchat, Amazon Partner for Shoppable Pictures
Snap Inc. announced a partnership with Amazon.com earlier this week that will enable users to point their smartphone cameras at any object and instantly see how much that object is selling for on Amazon. When Snapchat users scan an object or barcode with their cameras, a window pops up within the app showing that and similar items, along with price, review scores and Prime availability. If they click on an item, they’re taken to the Amazon app or website in their browser. The new feature is rolling out to only a small percentage of U.S. users as an initial trial run. Amazon will pay Snapchat a commission, with the amount varying by product category, for customer purchases referred by the social platform.
Total Retail's Take: The emergence of social commerce — both Instagram and Pinterest offer similar functionality to what Snapchat just introduced with Amazon — is causing retailers to evaluate the different ways they can drive purchases from a channel where many of their customers are spending most of their time online: social media.
"Brands compete for consumers’ attention and loyalty across every platform," notes Rob Gonzalez, co-founder and executive vice president of business development at Salsify, a product experience management platform. "Their sales strategy is no longer simply direct-to-consumer or to a consumer through retailers, it's everywhere-to-consumer. Amazon gets this, which is why it's investing in convenient stores, its own e-commerce website, Whole Foods, voice devices throughout the home, and, now, a Snapchat experience. The goal is to put a path to purchase everywhere the consumer is to reduce friction.
"In addition to bringing shopping closer to consumers, both Amazon and Snapchat have also been consumer experience innovators. I would expect more significant augmented reality features to be added to this integration in the future. For example: could you snap a photo of a new chair then overlay it on a photo of your living room and then transact on Amazon?"
