Dive Brief:
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Amazon has launched a shopping feature via Twitter. U.S. shoppers reply to Amazon product links on the social media site with #AmazonCart, and the item is added to their shopping cart or they’re notified that it’s not available. The program so far only works in the U.S. and the U.K., where the hashtag is #AmazonBasket.
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The service not only leverages Twitter for Amazon shopping outside their site, but also means customers are Tweeting about products and their Amazon activity.
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Customers using the service are notified by email that the item has been added to their cart, and they must complete the purchase through Amazon itself.
Dive Insight:
Social media payments startup Chirpify’s #actiontags system is similar to this move by Amazon — combining shopping with social media well beyond marketing or, on the consumer side, tweeting about a purchase or object of desire. But while Chirpify has mostly worked with individual charity-giving campaigns or individual lines of products, Amazon’s #AmazonCart service takes shopping via Twitter up a notch, with Amazon’s amazing reach.