Amazon’s Twitter initiative, the #AmazonBasket hashtag, has helped to lift its following on the social media platform, new research suggests.
When Amazon Twitter followers tweet a named product and use the #AmazonBasket hashtag, the item is automatically added to their Amazon shopping basket. The innovation was launched in June.
Now eDigitalResearch, which compiles a six-monthly snapshot of social media activity in the UK, the Social Media Benchmark Retail, has found the company added 141,940 new Twitter followers in the first six months of the year, growth of 144.26%, taking it up nine places to ninth place in its Twitter league. That’s a bigger gain than any other retailer in the league, and one that the researcher links to the launch of Twitter initiative.
Overall, the UK retailers with the biggest Twitter followings, according to the research, were Topshop with 903,201 followers, Asos with 714,147, and Net-a-Porter with 639,270.
Researchers, who took their snapshot of followings between July 21 and 25, also found that Amazon had most followers on Facebook at 4,993,098, with more than 1m more followers than second-placed Topshop with 3,900,096. In third place was Asos with 3,397,403 followers.
The biggest gainer on Facebook was Primark which gained 619,962 followers, 26.12% up on last time, and putting it at fifth place in the overall league with 2,993,647 followers.
The research also showed gains made between August 2010 and August 2014, with Amazon up by 7,171% and Topshop up by 601%.
Chris Russell, joint chief executive at eDigitalResearch, said: “Social media is no longer a nice to have – more and more of us are using social media platforms as a means of contact and connecting with people and therefore brands and retailers need to make sure they’re also connecting with customers this way, creating a rapport and relationship with users and fostering higher customer engagement and loyalty levels.
“Social media is a great resource to reach out to customers, and on a global level. But it’s not just about reaching out and connecting with people. Social media generates a high level of customer to customer conversations – tapping into these conversations will help to better understand customer need and improve the overall customer experience.”
The full research is available here, via a short registration survey.
