Retail Channels
02 November 2022
Snap courts ecommerce with Amazon, BigCommerce tie-ups
Amazon Fashion is making glasses available on Snapchat for virtual try-on.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Amazon Fashion is making glasses available on Snapchat for virtual try-on.
Snapchat is continuing to make moves to introduce more ecommerce into the app, especially as it seeks to harness its augmented reality-ready camera and Lens feature as a virtual try-on feature for users to explore new products.
It means there are growing ways for brands and retailers to engage on the visual messaging app. With 363 million users and a reach that extends to 75% of Gen Z and millennials in over 20 countries, Snapchat is home to an audience that many want to reach.
On Wednesday, the social media company announced a pair of new partnerships with ecommerce platforms that will make it easier for brands and retailers to reach those users, and make their products visible on the platform.
Here’s a look:
Virtual try-on tools for Amazon products will be accessible to Snapchat’s user base through a new partnership between the two companies.
Through a new partnership, Snapchat users will be able to use Shopping Lens to try on eyewear from brands available on Amazon, such as Maui Jim, Persol, Oakley, and Costa Del Mar. The feature uses Snap's camera to overlay an image of the glasses on to the photo likeness of a users. There will also be a path for Snapchat users to purchase products they test from the Amazon Fashion store.
“Amazon Fashion is always looking for new ways to collaborate with brands and create fun, innovative shopping experiences for customers,” says Muge Erdirik Dogan, president of Amazon Fashion, in a statement. “Millions of customers regularly use Amazon’s AR shopping technology across categories in our stores, with Virtual Try-On for Eyewear being a long-time customer favorite."
Both companies already had augmented reality tools before linking up. Amazon has its own virtual-try on and Snap has rolled out more AR-based features over the last couple of years. Now, Amazon’s 3D Asset technology and Snap’s Lenses are being integrated. This allows 3D assets and product information to be shared, as well as dynamically updated. The companies teamed up to create 3D asset standards, which integrated the tools.
The Shopping Lenses will be available through Amazon Fashion’s public Snapchat profile, in Snap’s Lens Explorer across the For You and Dress Up tabs and the Snapchat Camera Lens Carousel, the company said.
The companies said they plan to expand the partnership to additional verticals, but it’s notable that they chose eyewear. Warby Parker was a pioneer in virtual try-on with its own tool to test glasses, so it’s fitting that a new partnership is starting through this lens.
Snap recently made a series of product-level upgrades to make AR shopping more prevalent on the platform. Given Amazon's massive assortment, has the potential to meaningfully grow the catalog of products available on the app.

Snapchat integrates with BigCommerce. (Courtesy photo)
A new partnership for BigCommerce is opening up a way for merchants that run stores on the SaaS ecommerce platform to integrate their stores with Snapchat.
This provides the opportunity to sync product catalogs and create Snapchat ad campaigns. Snapchat said merchants can access ad formats that are made for ecommerce. They can also place the Snap Pixel to track conversions and measures results, or use Pixel Custom Audiences to build retargeting campaigns.
“Giving merchants access to Snapchat’s unique audience of 363 million daily active users opens up incredible opportunities for them to tap into a younger generation of influencers that master impacting a consumer's purchasing decision,” said Sharon Gee, vice president of revenue growth and general manager of omnichannel at BigCommerce. "For BigCommerce, Snap’s partnership broadens our direct integrations portfolio for omnichannel merchants on the BigCommerce platform, providing access to top performing social, search and marketplace channels from a single platform to sell more and increase revenue.”
Gee continued, “Furthermore, this partnership provides unique benefits to our ecosystem of Omnichannel Certified Partners for merchants on any ecommerce platform via Feedonomics to drive return ad on spend and improve performance on hundreds of growth channels.”
BigCommerce said its tools are used by “tens of thousands” B2C and B2B brands to create online stores, including Ben & Jerry’s, Molton Brown, S.C. Johnson, Skullcandy, Solo Stove, Ted Baker and Vodafone.
Campbell Soup Company CEO Mark Clouse offered thoughts on messaging amid inflationary shifts in consumer behavior.
After months of elevated inflation and interest rate hikes that have the potential to cool demand, consumers are showing more signs of shifting behavior.
It’s showing up in retail sales data, but there’s also evidence in the observations of the brands responsible for grocery store staples.
The latest example came this week from Campbell Soup Company. CEO Mark Clouse told analysts that the consumer continues to be “resilient” despite continued price increases on food, but found that “consumers are beginning to feel that pressure” as time goes on.
This shows up in the categories they are buying. Overall, Clouse said Campbell sees a shift toward shelf-stable items, and away from more expensive prepared foods.
There is also change in when they make purchases. People are buying more at the beginning of the month. That’s because they are stretching paychecks as long as possible.
These shifts change how the company is communicating with consumers.
Clouse said the changes in behavior are an opportunity to “focus on value within our messaging without necessarily having to chase pricing all the way down.”
“No question that it's important that we protect affordability and that we make that relevant in the categories that we're in," Clouse said. "But I also think there's a lot of ways to frame value in different ways, right?”
A meal cooked with condensed soup may be cheaper than picking up a frozen item or ordering out. Consumers just need a reminder. Even within Campbell’s own portfolio, the company can elevate brands that have more value now, even if they may not always get the limelight.
The open question is whether the shift in behavior will begin to show up in the results of the companies that have raised prices. Campbell’s overall net sales grew 5% for the quarter ended April 30, while gross profit margins held steady around 30%. But the category-level results were more uneven. U.S. soup sales declined 11%, though the company said that was owed to comparisons with the quarter when supply chains reopened a year ago and expressed confidence that the category is seeing a longer-term resurgence as more people cook at home following the pandemic. Snacks, which includes Goldfish and Pepperidge Farm, were up 12% And while net sales increased overall, the amount of products people are buying is declining. Volumes were down 7%.
These are trends happening across the grocery store. Campbell is continuing to compete. It is leading with iconic brands, and a host of different ways to consume them. It is following that up with innovation that makes the products stand out. Then, it is driving home messaging that shows consumers how to fit the products into their lives, and even their tightening spending plans.
Campbell Soup is more than 150 years old, and has seen plenty of difficult economic environments. It is also a different business today, and will continue to evolve. At the end of the day, continued execution is what’s required.
“If it's good food, people are going to buy it, especially if it's a great value,” Clouse said.