Amazon’s video shopping channel died. Amazon had a video shopping channel?

Amazon HSN

Amazon’s attempt to bring home shopping television into the 21st century was a bust.

Oh, you didn’t know Amazon had a home shopping channel? Well, neither did very many other people.

Amazon did what?

While the live streaming online show, Style Code Live, had thousands of followers on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, these numbers paled in comparison to the numbers of fans that should have been drawn in by popular celebrity guests like Sarah Jessica Parker, Meghan Trainor, Nicole Richie, Kourtney Kardashian, and Kelly Osbourne.

The show began last March, and was suddenly canceled just last week on May 26.

All of the Amazon accounts associated with the show have been closed. The show had been hosted by former MTV video jockey Lyndsey Rodrigues, former Miss USA and ABC host Rachel Smith, and Ariana Grande’s less-famous brother, Frankie Grande.

While Amazon told the show’s Facebook fans that “there is more to come” the company has yet to reveal any plans indicating that they’ll revive the shopping show.

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What went wrong?

Amazon isn’t telling us much, but given that the show’s remaining YouTube channel isn’t generating much activity or engagement, it’s likely that the investment simply wasn’t worth it. Hosting a live show five days per week is costly, even before factoring in big-name hosts and fees for celebrity appearances.

Amazon was banking on a star-studded show to draw in audiences, but they never generated enough engagement to make the experiment profitable.

Perhaps television shopping isn’t particularly relevant to the Millennial generation. Celebrity influencers may be able to get the attention of Millennial customers, but they can’t convince today’s young consumers to purchase products in a way that feels unfamiliar to them.

Take notes

Meanwhile, QVC brings in about $8 billion per year.

Even if Amazon could match QVC’s success, it would still only represent a sliver of the retail giant’s multi-billion-dollar revenue.

#KeepItSimple

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