Social Shopping Carts

Smart companies make the most of consumers trends, and Amazon is no exception!

Amazon and Twitter have embarked on a unique partnership that provides a very specific tool for shoppers in this digital age.  if you see an Amazon product link on Twitter, you can now add it to your Amazon shopping cart by responding to the tweet with the hashtag #AmazonCart.  It's as simple as linking your Amazon and Twitter accounts, and then whenever you see an Amazon product you want, just tweet it and it's done! Ready to purchase in your cart the next time you’re on the Amazon site. 

I suspect this will prove to be a lucrative move for Amazon. First of all, as Amazon states, many of their customers would already have twitter accounts, so giving them one more way to find and buy goods, makes sense. Amazon spokeswoman Julie Law says; “We have a significant number of customers who use Twitter, and a significant number of affiliates who use Twitter, too… to be able to allow customers to add something to their Amazon cart without leaving Twitter was sort of a logical step,”

The other benefit for Amazon is that the hashtag system is public. In other words, people’s twitter streams will show what people are buying, and that means free advertising for Amazon. 

In this digital age where shoppers are always online and on mobile devices and have little time for lengthy shopping searches, the partnership between Amazon and Twitter perfectly caters to how consumers shop. Estimates from eMarketer say retail ecommerce sales in the U.S. are expected to jump 16% this year to $304 billion. Amazon is making all the right steps to stay up to date and entice customers.