Amazon Prime has launched our own take on Shark Tank to give entrepreneurs the opportunity to have their products appear online.
Hosted by actor and comedian JB Smoove, Buy It Now is designed to let everyday Americans pitch their own innovative products to a live audience and panel of investors.
Successful pitchers will secure a spot for their product in the exclusive Buy It Now store on Amazon, with one entrepreneur from each episode winning a $20,000 prize.
Amazon Prime will take on Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den
Although the program uses a similar principle to US Shank Tank and UK Dragon Den, it will place a greater emphasis on the audience, known as ‘The 100’, who will vote on whether they like the product before it goes to a panel of people. celebrity judges and Amazon executives.
The company has already confirmed panel appearances from Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Anderson, Tony Hawk and Tabitha Brown. Execs like Jenny Freshwater, VP of Amazon Fashion & Fitness, and Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring, will also appear.
In addition to joining a popular show format, Amazon’s move will also create a closer relationship between the company’s e-commerce and entertainment businesses by offering winning products in the dedicated storefront.
After an initial three-episode launch on October 30, Buy It Now will stream for an additional 13 weeks until January 8.
Amazon also plans to have a secondary weekly show: This is Small Business: Behind the Buy. The behind-the-scenes episodes offer insights from winning entrepreneurs and other never-before-seen content.
As consumers worldwide battle rising subscription costs, Amazon’s efforts to intertwine two of its core businesses and create an all-in-one ecosystem, similar to Musk’s ambitions with X, could bode well.