Meta will soon allow you to link your Facebook and Instagram accounts to your Amazon account. The alliance wants to simplify the purchasing process, so that you can choose and pay for a product from the virtual store without having to leave the applications of these social networks.
“For the first time, customers will be able to shop Amazon ads on Facebook and Instagram and pay with Amazon without leaving the social media apps,” Amazon spokesperson Callie Jernigan confirmed to TechCrunch. For now, they’ll start in the U.S. Customers will see real-time pricing, delivery estimates, and other product details after they go through a quick, one-time setup to link their profiles.
Your default shipping address and Amazon payment information will be used to complete your purchase. Meta, for its part, will be able to customize advertising messages and the product page depending on whether the user is a Prime member or not.
“While additional details are still scarce, this partnership could be a huge revenue opportunity for Meta, Amazon and, most importantly, advertisers,” said Maurice Rahmey, CEO of Disruptive Digital and the first to leak the news on LinkeIn. The business suits both parties: Amazon hopes to boost its sales and Meta will earn more money from ads served and attributable conversions.
Brands and advertisers can currently share their products through Facebook and Instagram. However, once a product is clicked, Meta platforms redirect users to an external link. The new Meta integration for shopping on Amazon will be available for select products sold directly by Amazon or third-party vendors.
Meta has had several problems in its foray into e-commerce. Mark Zuckerberg’s company, for example, gave up this year on its Instagram shop tab, which allowed users to find content to buy on their feeds. It just didn’t work.
Apple, on the other hand, introduced several changes to its privacy policies in 2021 that allowed its users to choose not to be tracked by advertisers. This greatly limited ad targeting on iOS devices. The result?: about $10 billion less in advertising revenue for Meta in 2022according to Bloomberg.
Amazon, for its part, has tried without success to create its own versions of social networks. In 2019, it closed its service Spark, which was similar to Instagram. Late last year, she launched Inspire, a feed TikTok-like shopping platform for its US customers, which supports photos and videos. It is still being tested, but Amazon is in a hurry because the competition is advancing.
TikTok launched its TikTok Shop, its own virtual store, last September in the US. Taking into account that it is an application with a reach of 150 million users in this country, it is natural that Amazon is looking for quick solution alternatives.