Influencers Can Now Live Stream On Amazon

Amazon is adding a live streaming option to its Amazon Influencer Program, enabling influencers to earn commissions on qualifying purchases of products they feature.

Available to influencers who are part of the Amazon Influencer Program, live streams will appear automatically on influencer storefronts and on the Amazon Live home page. Followers can opt in to be notified when an influencer goes live and follow an influencer’s page directly from a live stream.

Incentives to stream longer include unlocking different levels, which can increase an influencer’s placements for live streams on Amazon and commissions.

All influencers begin at the Rising Star level, which means they’re eligible to stream on and earn commissions through Amazon’s Live Creator app, as well as have their streams appear on the Amazon Live page and their influencer storefront.

The mid-tier level, called Insider, earns influencer live streams a place on all Rising Star level placements, product detail pages of the first 10 products featured in the live stream and a top-of-page placement on the Amazon Live site.

A-List is the highest level and includes perks such as all Rising Star and Insider benefits, special access to Amazon Live events, eligibility to appear on Rising Star and Insider placements and the Amazon home page, plus priority support from the Amazon Live Creator team.

The retailer suggests influencers stream for at least 30 minutes at a time, engage with shoppers in chat, ask viewers to send reactions and film streams in unexpected settings or against striking visual backdrops.

Influencers can also create special discount codes for viewers and promote their live stream accounts with a link accessible in the Amazon Live Creator app.

An extension to its existing Associates program for social media influencers, the Amazon Influencer Program was introduced in 2017 as a way for influencers to earn a commission on products they recommend through a custom URL and social media posts.

Amazon launched its Amazon Live service in 2019 as a way to reach more users in an interactive QVC-style format, a phenomenon that has been popularized by Chinese influencers on Alibaba and Douyin. According to Chinese influencer company Ruhnn Holding, live streaming influencers sold over $4 billion of goods in China in 2018.
An inherent lack of trust by Chinese consumers has helped boost the influencer live streaming economy there. “For many, Chinese [key opinion leaders] are the most trustworthy and authentic source of information, particularly as there are relatively few other ways to get information with the state controlling the media,” Mark Tanner, managing director of China Skinny, told The Wall Street Journal.