Amazon, in its ever-growing desire to be 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 quietly launched ‘Featured Articles’ on its shopping app and website in India, which features feature articles, 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 is also sending notifications to some Kindle users.
Image credits: Himanshu Gupta
The latest addition, which was spotted and shared with TechCrunch by Himanshu Gupta, comes days after Amazon launched a free in-app 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 this effort, we tested a new service that brings articles on different topics like news, books, business, entertainment, sports and lifestyle among others for the readers.
This is not the first time that Amazon has considered integrating reading material into its purchasing department in India. In 2018, Amazon India started offering reviews and lists of gadgets, sourced from local news houses.