Amazon, the online retailer, is introducing certain features similar to those found on social media to help brands engage in “conversations” with consumers.

Colleen Aubrey, the online retailer’s global vp/performance advertising, discussed this subject at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview 2020

“I think Amazon can do more to allow, and enable, brands to have a much more direct conversation with customers as they go from discovery to [making a] purchase decision,” she said. (For more, read WARC's in-depth report: Amazon looks to social-media modelling to extend consumer engagement.)

As part of ecommerce giant’s efforts to “unlock a more direct relationship between a brand and a customer”, it has introduced a “Brand Follow” feature with a clear use case.

This tool, in fact, is broadly similar to “following” a company or individual on social media. “A customer expresses a direct interest in one specific brand,” Aubrey said.

“There are many iterations of ‘follow’ that that you can find on the internet,” Aubrey added. “Brand Follow is a way for customers to say, ‘This is a brand that I’m interested in.’”

Another feature the company has unveiled is Amazon Posts, which, the company explains, use “curated photos to inspire shoppers to engage with your brand and products on Amazon”.

The new “browse-and-discovery experience … focuses on brand shopping” and helps “shoppers discover new products and see what’s new from brands by browsing feeds of brand-curated content”.

Such initiatives, Aubrey asserted, reflect Amazon’s ambition to assist brand custodians in connecting with shoppers in fuller ways.

“I think Amazon can do more to allow, and enable, brands to have a much more direct conversation with customers as they go from discovery to [making a] purchase decision,” she said.

“There’s a lot we can do to help brands develop a relationship with their customers over time – to make investments today that lead to future growth of their businesses and help them get to the businesses they want tomorrow.” 

Sourced from WARC