TikTok stands on shaky ground in the US at the start of 2025, making it the perfect time for another platform to swoop in and take its place. Unfortunately, Amazon’s “Inspire,” an app feature designed for influencer-produced videos, is now retired and out of the running.
Amazon Will No Longer “Inspire” You With Its TikTok-Like Feed
That’s a wrap on Amazon Inspire, a feed on the commerce giant’s mobile app featuring product-related videos. Amazon launched Inspire for US users in 2023, as a space for consumers and influencers to find and market new products, respectively.
The platform looked and operated a lot like TikTok, where you could swipe through vertical content and “like” the videos that made an impression. By contrast, though, each video also featured a row of products along the bottom that you could tap and purchase.
Inspire also differed from a platform like TikTok or Instagram in that not just anyone could sign up and post. Amazon vendors were free to add videos, but content creators had to enroll in the Amazon Influencer Program before they could post and collect commissions.
Now, when you try to search for Amazon Inspire, you’re met with the kind eyes of Milly, a golden retriever mascot, who passes along the message that “Inspire is no longer available in the Amazon shopping app.” In its place, Amazon (or, Milly) encourages you to use its AI shopping assistant called Rufus.
Will Anyone Be Heartbroken at Amazon Inspire’s Retirement Party?
Interestingly, Amazon’s decision to kill Inspire doesn’t come at a time when TikTok is necessarily dominating the competition. After months of will-they-won’t-they, a TikTok ban took effect in the US on January 19th, 2025—only to be overturned a day later. While TikTok is available again to download in the US, its future is still uncertain, due to security concerns and geopolitical tensions.
So the question is: why wouldn’t Amazon stick it out? TikTok could disappear again, leaving us aching for swipeable content. Ultimately, the hill may just be too tall for Amazon to climb—with or without TikTok. The roster of social platforms is already stacked, and it takes a lot to convince people to migrate somewhere new.
For content creators and brands, a behemoth like Instagram already offers vertical visual marketing options, and its rates are reportedly better. In August 2023, Bloomberg covered the backlash Amazon faced when it offered $25 per influencer-submitted video, as part of a lackluster effort to fill out its Inspire feed.
The name of the game is meeting consumers where they’re already at—and that’s Instagram. While finding and buying products within the same app is convenient, frankly, it’s just as easy to tap an Amazon product link on Instagram.
I guess that Amazon wasn’t quite inspired enough to produce the next great commodified social platform. Maybe, these platforms do better when they at least try to dress up as something other than straight commerce.
