Are you an avid Twitter user who constantly has the urge to add items to your Amazon cart? If so, you’re in luck: Amazon’s new #AmazonCart service lets you shop away without ever leaving Twitter. Simply reply to a tweet with #AmazonCart to add items to you Amazon account that you can purchase later.
How to Use AmazonCart
The #AmazonCart service is an easy way to save items you find on Twitter for later. Here’s how to get started:
- Connect your Twitter account to Amazon. This lets Amazon know to which account it should send items you reply to on Twitter. To link your accounts, visit your Social Settings page on Amazon
- Reply with #AmazonCart to any tweet containing an Amazon product link to add the item to your cart on Amazon. Afterward @MyAmazon will reply to your tweet alerting you whether the item was added to your cart or if it was out of stock
- Finish shopping at Amazon. Find all your #AmazonCart items the next time you log in to Amazon, and review, edit and purchase as you please
While replying to Amazon product tweets will add items to your cart, note that the items won’t actually be purchased until you take the extra step to check out at Amazon.com.
Privacy in AmazonCart
While your activity on Amazon will remain private, it’s likely that your Twitter activity with Amazon won’t be. Unless you’ve set your Twitter account to private, anyone on Twitter will be able to see which items you’ve added to your cart. Thankfully, your #AmazonCart replies won’t be visible from your main tweets list, but users can still view your replies by visiting the “Tweets and replies” tab of your Twitter profile. So shop carefully!
Will People Actually Check Out With Their AmazonCart Items?
As you can see in the promotional video above, Amazon imagines #AmazonCart as an easy way to create an actionable shopping list while on the go. The users featured in its video add items to their Amazon carts while waiting for their coffee at a coffee shop, resting at a playground and while surfing the Web in bed. But if users add items to their shopping carts while they’re doing anything but shopping, are they ever really going to visit Amazon to purchase them?
Many people browse Twitter on their mobile devices as a way to pass the time while on the go. I imagine that in many circumstances, adding items to your imaginary shopping cart can be an entertaining pastime but not an ideal driver of spending – kind of like the way high school students visit the mall to hang out and eat McDonald’s but not to actually buy anything. While this service might encourage online retailers to become more engaging on Twitter, it probably won’t lead to a huge increase in sales through Amazon.
What would you buy through #AmazonCart?
via TheNextWeb
