Amazon has launched an innovative way for Twitter users to shop on Amazon without having to leave their favorite social media site by using #AmazonCart, according to The Next Web.

When users connect their Twitter accounts to Amazon through their settings page, they can reply to tweets containing a link to an Amazon product with the hashtag “#AmazonCart” and have the item show up in their Amazon shopping carts. They don’t actually buy the item right then. Shoppers have to actually go to the Amazon website to do that.

The @MyAmazon Twitter account will also notify users of the status of their request.

Amazon has released a short video on YouTube showing how the new service works. It shows people using the service on mobile devices, including Amazon’s own Kindle Fire HDX tablet. Even though it’s relatively easy to shop on mobile devices, switching apps to do so can be cumbersome, which appears to be why Amazon is targeting this service to tablet and smartphone users. Amazon seems to be figuring that if customers can buy products more easily, they will continue to do so, no matter what platform they happen to be using.

Although Amazon is intent on promoting its own ecosystem, including its Kindle line and the recently announced Fire TV, it seems to be acknowledging that there are other platforms, including iOS and the stock Android OS. (Both the Kindle Fire and the Fire TV are based on a modified version of Android).

There still might be a few problems with #AmazonCart. The tweets are public, so some users might not want to broadcast what they’re buying to other people. Although only users who are following both parties can see a reply, they might still annoy the recipients as well.

Still, #AmazonCart shows the benefits of keeping Twitter relatively open as a platform, as it lets developers easily create new and interesting experiments. (Although development is not as free as it once was. For example, Twitter’s guidelines effectively bar developers from creating new clients.)


Edited by Rory J. Thompson