Amazon Live arrives in France to respond to TikTok Shop

The evolution of social commerce: from TikTok Shop to Amazon Live

A global upheaval in the uses of e-commerce

For several years, e-commerce has continued to transform under the impetus of social networks. The term “social commerce”, previously restricted to a few shopping features on Instagram or Facebook, now refers to a complete economic model where users discover, learn and buy without ever leaving their social network.

TikTok, in particular, was a catalyst. With an ultra-engaged user base, a highly effective recommendation algorithm, and a culture based on instantaneity, the platform has revolutionized the buying journey. Where Amazon proposed a rational purchase, TikTok introduced an emotional buying logic, often impulsive, linked to viral content. The result: buying behaviors have adapted to these new codes, especially among the younger generations (Gen Z, Millennials).

This evolution has not gone unnoticed. In response to this trend, e-commerce giants like Amazon are reacting... and adapting.

TikTok Shop: A Game Changer for Social Media and Commerce

TikTok Shop has formalized this transformation from social media to a commercial model. With its launch in France in 2024, the platform now allows creators to sell directly via their videos, their lives, or even via a store integrated into their profile. This fluid integration between content and commerce turns each publication into a potential showcase.

This model is based on three pillars:

• The Influence : creators, whether macro or micro, become commercial actors in their own right.
• Minimal friction : the user experience is designed to never leave the TikTok ecosystem.
• The vertical video format : a powerful storytelling vector, it promotes emotional connection and virality.

The success was rapid. Many brands, from cosmetics to tech, have seen their turnover explode thanks to well-executed campaigns on TikTok Shop. Some product test videos or hauls generated hundreds of thousands of euros in sales in a few days.

Amazon Live: Strategic Response or Revolution in the Making?

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The Arrival ofAmazon Live in France Is part of this logic: capturing the audience where they now consume their content, that is to say live, social, interactive. While TikTok initiated the trend with its “see now, buy now” dynamic, Amazon now wants to go further with a model modelled on that of Asian platforms like Taobao Live (Alibaba).

Amazon Live focuses on:

• The Power of Influencers Who become Live Shopping Animators,
• Interactivity (live chat, questions and answers, live demos),
• The Timeliness of the Purchase through direct integration with Amazon inventory.

By integrating these social commerce codes, Amazon is not only seeking to modernize its image, but to reinvent its relationship with consumers, in a field previously dominated by TikTok.

TikTok Shop vs Amazon Live: Two Opposing Visions of Social Commerce

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A different origin, two incompatible DNAs

TikTok and Amazon don't come from the same world, and that's reflected in the way they approach social commerce. TikTok is primarily an entertainment platform. Everything is designed to capture attention, create emotion, and encourage virality. The Product is Never at the Center of the Experience: It is the Happy Who takes precedence.

Amazon, on the contrary, has been a shopping platform that has been optimized for 20 years to reduce the customer journey to its simplest expression: find, compare, buy. Amazon's engine is Researching. The one on TikTok is the Finding.

This creates two distinctly different logics:

• TikTok Shop pushes emotional buying, inspired by a creator or a video.
• Amazon Live pushes rational buying, enriched by detailed product information, demos, and real-time customer reviews.

The user experience: instantaneity versus efficiency

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On TikTok Shop, everything is natively integrated: when a user watches a video and is interested in a product, they can buy it in a few clicks, without leaving the app. The purchase is fluid, mobile-first, and often triggered by staging or narration.

Amazon Live is still attached to a traditional e-commerce universe. Of course, the experience is more interactive, but it is still a bit cumbersome. The live is integrated into the Amazon site, and the user remains in a classic transactional environment, without the viral or community dynamics specific to TikTok.

In other words:

• TikTok Shop Seduces And Capture attention,
• Amazon Live Shapeless And reassures.

Algorithms in play: push vs pull

Another key point: the way in which content is promoted. TikTok is based on an algorithm Push, that is, it pushes content to users based on their interests and behavior. This allows any video (and therefore any product) to go viral in a matter of hours.

Amazon, on the other hand, is still operating in Sweater : the user must actively search for a product or come across a live via the homepage. The capacity for spontaneous discovery is therefore much lower.

This gives TikTok Shop a Viral scalability potential That Amazon Live does not (yet) have.

Brand strategies: storytelling versus demonstration

Finally, on the brand side, the approaches are very different:

• On TikTok, brands must adopt a creative posture: produce native content, focus on trends, collaborate with creators, script the use of the product...
• On Amazon Live, the challenge is rather to demonstrate the usefulness of the product, by highlighting its characteristics, its concrete benefits and its operation.

That's the difference between a viral “before-and-after” video on TikTok and a live demonstration of a kitchen appliance on Amazon.

Why Brands Need to Adapt Quickly to This New Era of Social Commerce

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A Profound Change in Buying Behavior

Consumers are no longer discovering products the way they used to. A store window or a TV ad have been replaced by a swipe on TikTok or an influencer recommendation. Today, The Product Comes to the User, often without him looking for it.

This phenomenon is particularly pronounced among Gen Z, who increasingly trust content creators rather than the brands themselves. The search reflex on Google or Amazon is often preceded by a discovery phase on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube Shorts. This reality imposes a paradigm shift on brands: It is no longer enough to be visible, you have to be engaging.

The urgent need to reorganize your marketing strategy

Faced with this mutation, brands must rethink their digital presence from top to bottom. Several actions are required:

• Create content that's natively designed for social platforms, and not reuse traditional advertising assets.
• Partnering with Trusted Creators Who masters the codes of the platform (humor, short format, storytelling, music, etc.).
• Quickly test social commerce formats Offered by TikTok Shop or Amazon Live, in order to understand what resonates with their target audience.

Ignoring this evolution means taking the risk of becoming invisible on tomorrow's channels.

The New Role of Influencers: Prescribers and Salespeople

Another major upheaval: influencers are no longer just vectors of notoriety. Thanks to tools like TikTok Shop or Amazon Influencer Program, They Become Full-Fledged Distributors. Some designers now generate several tens of thousands of euros per month in sales of affiliated products or their own brands.

This involves two things:

1. Brands Should Co-Build Sales Strategies with Creators, not just sponsored posts.
2. They have to Agree to Give Them Some Creative Freedom, because it is this authenticity that generates commitment and therefore conversion.

Mistakes to Avoid in Adopting Social Commerce

Launching social commerce is an opportunity, but it's also slippery ground for brands that are ill-prepared. Common mistakes include:

• Use an overly commercial tone In an environment designed for entertainment.
• Choosing the Wrong Influencers, based solely on their number of subscribers, with no affinity with the brand.
• Not Integrating Social Commerce Into the Overall Strategy : it is not a simple one-time activation, but a new long-term channel.
• Neglecting the Post-Purchase Experience : delivery times, customer service, product quality... A TikTok or Amazon customer remains a customer, with high expectations.

The brands that succeed will be those capable of combining performance, creativity and agility.

Toward a hybrid future: convergence between content, commerce and community

The future of e-commerce is being played out at the intersection of uses

We are at a pivotal moment. The Boundaries Between Entertainment, leverages, and Trade Are frequently fading away. TikTok is no longer just a dance or trend app: it's a sales engine. Amazon is no longer just a marketplace: it's a platform that wants to tell stories.

The future of e-commerce will be neither purely transactional (as Amazon has long embodied it), nor purely emotional (as TikTok offers it today). It Will Be Hybrid. This mixed model will combine:

• From Immersive video content (shorts, lives, stories),
• Of Strategic Influence (authentic and communal),
• One Smooth Shopping Experience, without a break in the course.

This convergence requires platforms to evolve continuously, but also brands to review their entire marketing value chain.

The Rise of the Creator Economy as a Basis for Growth

The Creator Economy is the discreet but powerful driver of this transformation. By empowering creators to sell, recommend, and build brands, TikTok and Amazon are redefining the role of influence in society.

The most agile no longer hesitate to Launch Their Own Products Or to create Brands Carried by Their Community. For its part, Amazon is multiplying initiatives to welcome these creator-entrepreneurs on its platform, in particular with its “Amazon Creator” program.

In this logic, the brands that will perform tomorrow may be those that have known how to:

• Create bridges between their storytelling and that of the creators,
• Collaborate with talents over the long term, beyond a simple one-off operation,
• Be part of authentic community ecosystems.

TikTok-Amazon Cohabitation: War or Synergy?

Instead of competing directly with each other, TikTok Shop and Amazon Live could become complementary. TikTok, a platform for discovery and impetus, would capture interest. Amazon, a reinsurance and conversion platform, would finalize the purchase, especially for higher baskets.

Some brands are already adopting this “reverse phygital” strategy: they generate desire via TikTok, then redirect to their Amazon store to benefit from the logistical power and trust of the platform.

This strategy of double presence Could become the norm, and even redefine the customer journey for years to come.

Conclusion: an inevitable transformation for brands

The rise of social commerce, symbolized by TikTok Shop and Amazon Live, marks a profound shift in the way consumers discover, interact, and buy.

It's not just a trend: it's a Behavioral Revolution, driven by a generation that no longer separates content, community and consumption.

Brands must therefore:

• Appropriate these new territories,
• Create content designed for engagement and conversion,
• Collaborate intelligently with creators,
• And stay on the lookout all the time, because innovation has only just begun.

The future of commerce will be played out less on the shelves of a site... than in Video Feed and the Lives social networks.