Amazon Rolls Out Brand Pages
The innovative minds at Amazon have managed to combine merchandising with social media in their newest feature, Amazon Pages. A cross between Facebook and Pinterest, Pages will allow marketers to create a social shopping experience for customers.
The top of an Amazon Page features a large image of a feature product, similar to that of a Facebook “cover photo,” where users can click to add to their Amazon shopping carts.
Below the feature image, brands have the choice of running three different format templates: All Products, Posts with Merchandising, and Posts Only. The first two formats will allow customers to add the featured products directly to their shopping cart, while the third is limited to updates of 140 characters.
The incorporation of posts into a digital shopping experience allows brands to act as publishers of content. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, brands will be able to use Pages as a way to interact with customers in a personal fashion. However, when customers are browsing Amazon Pages, there’s a good likelihood they are in the mood to buy.
It will be interesting to see how Amazon Pages impacts product sales. Even more, how will original social media pioneers like Facebook and Twitter respond to Amazon’s incorporation of social into the online shopping experience?
As social media and retailing converge, will spending on the more traditional Facebook and Twitter marketing strategies decrease?