There was a bit of discussion late this week about a new arrangement between Amazon and Meta, which will enable Facebook and IG users to purchase Amazon products in-stream.

As you can see in this sequence (posted by Maurice Rahmey on Threads), the new Amazon/Instagram integration, in this example, will enable Instagram users to connect their IG and Amazon account, facilitating one-click purchases without leaving Instagram.

As explained by Amazon:

“For the first time, customers will be able to shop Amazon’s Facebook and Instagram ads and check out with Amazon without leaving the social media apps. Customers in the U.S. will see real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, delivery estimates, and product details on select Amazon product ads in Facebook and Instagram as part of the new experience.”

Which is interesting, though not a major revolution, as you can already purchase via most Facebook and IG ads when you tap through.

So it’s not that big of a deal, but then again…

A key element of this could be the integration of data between the two platforms, with Meta and Amazon sharing at least some insights that could then better inform relative marketing strategies, ad performance (via sales), etc.

But that’s not really what’s happening here.

In reading the fine print, in the explainer notes relating to the linking of your IG account, it states that:

• Amazon will be able to display up-to-date product pricing on ads, based on details from your Amazon account (i.e. if you’re a Prime subscriber or not)
• Amazon will share limited in-app activity data with Meta to show you more relevant product ads, based on which ads you engage with

So there’s not actually a heap of data feeding through from one to the other, though the engagement activity could help to improve Amazon ad targeting.

But more importantly, Amazon will not share your specific shopping actions “like purchases, product views, or searches” on Amazon to improve Meta’s ad targeting. So it won’t suddenly enable far greater ad targeting on Meta as a result of the partnership, and the actual data being shared is limited.

But it could be another way to drive more engagement with Amazon ads on Facebook and Instagram, while it might also drive more in-app shopping activity, helping to drive Meta’s commerce push.

Which is a lot like Schrodinger’s commerce push, in that it may be happening, or maybe not, depending on the month/week/day you ask. Meta has largely abandoned its live-stream shopping plans, while it’s also removed its dedicated shopping tabs on both Facebook and IG. But like all social platforms, it’s still trying to find a way in, and maybe, through more direct connection with Amazon, which has over 167 million Prime subscribers in the U.S., that could facilitate a new pathway to drive more in-app shopping activity.

But while there was some initial hype around the potential data being shared here, and the capacity to side-step the impacts of Apple’s iOS 14 update, which has restricted purchase tracking via Meta’s apps, the actual data flow is fairly limited.

But it’s worthy of note either way, and could have some value for Amazon merchants.