Remember that Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” where Macy’s in-store Santa, Kris Kringle, sends a frazzled shopper to a competitor’s store to find the Christmas present her son wanted because Macy’s was out of stock? Now Amazon is doing the same thing online. The retailer announced on Tuesday the test of a new Amazon Shopping feature that will redirect shoppers to other brands’ websites if they search in the app for a particular product that Amazon doesn’t carry.
In the movie, the radical marketing strategy improved customer sentiment around Macy’s — and helped cement its status as the best place to shop. Amazon likely hopes its move will do the same, especially in light of the increased competition from other online retailers, including Chinese e-commerce apps like Temu and Shein.
The retailer says the feature is only a beta test for now and will be activated for a subset of U.S. customers who perform searches in the Amazon Shopping app.
In the new experience, Amazon will show select products in its search results even if it doesn’t sell them. It will link to the retailer’s website so customers can click through and evaluate the product, pricing, and delivery options, and even make purchases directly from the brand itself. The product information shown on Amazon is pulled directly from the retailer’s website and is refreshed regularly.
These links to outside retailers will be shown alongside other relevant products found in Amazon’s own store, including those from its third-party sellers. Amazon says it will not be sharing users’ personal information with the brand when they click links.
When customers click links, they will be notified via a pop-up message saying “You’re leaving Amazon,” so they’re not confused about where they’re shopping from. Some of the brands Amazon may redirect to will offer Buy with Prime, a checkout service that lets Prime members transact on a retailer’s website using their Amazon account and payment information. The service offers Amazon Prime’s same fast delivery, easy returns, and customer support.
However, Amazon tells TechCrunch that the experience won’t only include brands offering Buy with Prime. While it couldn’t share a count or name the exact brands that are part of the test, the retailer says they span a number of categories.
“We’re continuously working to expand selection and make shopping even more convenient for customers,” noted Rajiv Mehta, Amazon’s VP of search and conversational shopping, in an announcement about the new feature. “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.”
Amazon says the feature will initially be available to select customers on the iOS and Android versions of its mobile app and will roll out to other customers and brands based on users’ feedback.
Brands are being invited to trial the experience by emailing branddirect@amazon.com. They can also contact this email to opt out of inclusion. Amazon claims it will have no data about how customers interact with the brand’s website after they exit Amazon’s site using the in-app browser.
That may be so, but even the data about what brands trigger clicks could help inform Amazon about products to stock and which brands it should court.
Over the past year, the retailer has added more premium and luxury brands to its lineup, including Clinique, Estée Lauder, Oura Rings, Armani Beauty, Kate Spade New York, Kiehl’s, and Dolce & Gabbana Beauty. On the flip side, it’s also challenged Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop with its own low-priced products on Amazon Haul.