Amazon is replacing its TikTok-like Inspire with Rufus the AI bot
Amazon has shut down its TikTok-esque social shopping feed, Inspire, and will be replacing it with Rufus. By 'Rufus,' we mean the AI shopping chatbot, not the naked mole rat from Kim Possible.
According to a report from The Information, Amazon users received a message from the online retail company saying that the Inspire feed was no longer available. The lightbulb icon that was used to access Inspire from the bottom of the Amazon app's home screen also disappeared. Kevin King, the founder of the Billion Dollar Sellers newsletter, posted a screenshot of the message on LinkedIn, which reads, 'Thank you for using Amazon Inspire to discover and shop new products on Amazon. Please note that Inspire is no longer available in the Amazon shopping app.'
The Inspire feed, which Amazon launched in 2023, provided an endless scroll of shoppable videos and images of products sold on the site posted by content creators and customers to demonstrate the use of said products and give testimonials on them. It was especially useful for content creators and influencers, as they would earn commissions from people buying the products immediately after viewing their content as part of the Amazon Influencer Program.
'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,' an Amazon spokesperson said.
While they didn't further explain the reason why Inspire was shut down, it can be implied that it didn't work as well as TikTok's Discover page in converting sales and compelling influencers to post content on there more frequently, as they can earn income elsewhere. However, they did redirect customers to other means of receiving product recommendations, including Rufus.
Rufus is an AI shopping assistant that answers questions to customers in an effort to help them find the products that best suit their needs quicker. For example, you can ask 'Best gifts for gamers,' and it'll recommend gaming headsets, mice, chairs, and consoles. Rufus will then ask, 'Can you share a bit about their favorite games or genres? For example, 'They enjoy RPGs like Skyrim.'' You respond, 'They play JRPGs like Kingdom Hearts and Fire Emblem,' and it'll recommend merchandise based on the games mentioned or similar, such as a Funko Pop figure of a character from Ni no Kuni.
Amazon shutting down Inspire coincides with the legal drama surrounding TikTok, which recently returned to the App Store and Google Play in the U.S. following a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi sent to Apple and Google assuring them they won't face any penalties related to the TikTok ban. The app was removed from both storefronts on January 18 as a result of a law that banned TikTok unless ByteDance sold it to an American company. Two days later, President Trump signed an executive order granting a 75-day stay on the ban while his administration figured out the best way forward.
How long the TikTok app will stay on the app stores is unknown. With Inspire gone from Amazon, it may be a little difficult for influencers to earn money from the content they post on the site. Although, it's worth pointing out that Amazon Live, the live-streaming and live-shopping feature, is still active, so maybe not that hard.
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