Amazon customers can now buy from the retailer while they’re on Twitter in a partnership that sees the internet giant seek to harness the power of social media.
Users of the general retail site can add items to their basket while they’re on Twitter by using #AmazonCart in the US or #AmazonBasket in the UK, though they’ll need to go to the Amazon site to check out their products.
“Whenever you see a tweet with an Amazon link, just hit reply and hashtag AmazonCart and it will be waiting the next time you visit Amazon,” says the narrator of an Amazon video explaining the service. “Add it now, buy it later, it’s that simple.”
Shoppers must connect their account to Twitter before they can use the service. Any tweet will be public to everyone who views their Twitter stream, and will also receive a status reply from Amazon via Twitter showing whether the item was added, or was in stock.
The innovation shows a new way for retailers to use social media. While the use of social media remains high, ecommerce sales through the media have stayed lower than expected.
Recently, Thomas Cook launched a partnership with Twitter that enables customers to request details of special offers using the social media.
