Amazon, in its ever-increasing desire to become a super app in India, is testing a new category to persuade users to spend more time on the shopping service: feature articles.
The US e-commerce giant has quietly launched “featured articles” on its shopping app and website in India, which feature feature stories, commentary and analysis on a wide range of topics including politics , governance, entertainment, sports, business, finance, health. , fitness, books and food. The articles come from several major local media and magazines.
Some of these items are “exclusively” available on Amazon, the company says on the website. To boost engagement, Amazon also sends notifications to select Kindle users.
Picture credits: Himanshu Gupta
The latest addition, which was spotted and shared with TechCrunch by Himanshu Guptacomes days after Amazon launched a free in-app shopping video streaming service in the South Asian nation.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the new feature to TechCrunch, adding, “We remain focused on creating new and engaging experiences for our customers and as part of that endeavor, we’ve been testing a new service that offers articles on different topics such as news, books, business, entertainment, sports and lifestyle among others for readers.
This is not the first time that Amazon has considered integrating reading material into its shopping service in India. In 2018, Amazon India started featuring gadget reviews and listings, sourced from local media outlets.