Amazon has launched a shoppable social network called Spark - here's how it works

Shona Ghosh/Amazon

Amazon Spark shows you products in an Instagram-like feed.

Amazon would really like you to buy more stuff, ideally through Amazon.

The company has launched Amazon Spark, an Instagram-style shoppable feed that appears inside the Amazon app to showcase products. We first saw Spark on TechCrunch.

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The experience is similar to scrolling through your Instagram feed, except in this case everything is set up so you can click on an image and buy items much more easily.

Business Insider tried using Amazon Spark on the iOS version of the Amazon app. It feels a bit beta for now - you have to be in the US and Spark only shows up for Prime members. And some items don't seem to be available to buy exactly as they appear in Spark - we tried to buy a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses that we saw on Spark, and Amazon showed us a slightly different version.

Here's how Spark works: