Amazon is testing a new shopping experience in beta where it shows select products in search results that it doesn't sell on its own marketplace — instead linking the shopper to the items on the brand's D2C website.
Here's how it works:
- A customer searches for a brand or product via Amazon's search bar.
- Amazon shows products in its own store alongside products that are available directly on another brand's website.
- Tapping on “See More” directs customers to view more results from that brand within Amazon's app.
- When a customer clicks on a product that is sold in a brand's store off Amazon, they receive a notification that they are leaving Amazon and will be directed to the brand's website.
Amazon wrote in its blog post, “If the brand has Buy with Prime enabled products, Prime members can enjoy fast, free delivery, easy returns, and 24/7 customer support for items purchased directly on the brand’s website.” — but it did not indicate whether the feature was exclusively for brands that have Buy with Prime enabled on their websites (although that would make sense if so).
From what I could gather in their FAQ for brands, this isn't a sponsored result (at the moment). Rather, Amazon is experimenting with scraping the brand's website and displaying their product results alongside their own. Similar to how Google Shopping pulls product info directly from a brand's website.
I can only assume that the current beta experience is a precursor for Amazon integrating sponsored results from 3rd party websites into its marketplace via the new Amazon Retail Ad Network, which I reported on in January.
Rick Watson of RMW Commerce Consulting made some additional predictions:
The fact that the experience is in Amazon's mobile app means that Amazon has a pretty good idea where you are as well which could increase the localized experience.
The fact that a lot of this messaging around this announcement is for “brands” and not “sellers” gives you some idea where their priorities lie. I expect this could be tied to Brand Registry even. More information to display means users can ask Amazon more questions and get better answers. It also ultimately gives Amazon more ad surface to display.
Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s VP of search and conversational shopping, said:
We’re continuously working to expand selection and make shopping even more convenient for customers. We’re testing bringing more selection and brands into our search results to help customers find even more of what they want and further improve our shopping experience for customers.
The experience is currently live for a subset of US customers in the Amazon Shopping app on both iOS and Android, with plans to roll out to more US customers based on feedback.