Is This the Coming of Twitter 2.0?
Like most of you I joined Twitter a few years ago. Many of you probably have thousands upon thousands of followers. Me? Triple-digits. (Obligatory FOLLOW ME request…). In all honesty, for the first couple of years I really didn’t use Twitter. I had named my account in jest to lament the long winters and lack of entertainment in our current state, and I had a dozen or so followers; most were “egg” accounts. I really didn’t care since my wife was the social one and I was only providing back-end support for her blogs. But as I began writing more and more for SahmReviews, I began to gain some following of my own. Sadly, I really still didn’t use my account as intended – I became a tweet-and-run kind of person.
That is all going to change now with the news I heard the other day. Amazon.com and Twitter have formed a first-of-its-kind partnership that will allow you to add items to your cart by using a custom hashtag (#AmazonCart) and never leaving your Twitter feed!
It is amazingly simple, even for this Twitter novice. My daughters have been bugging me for Disney’s “Frozen” since they heard it had been released on Blu-Ray. A quick check of Amazon’s movie Twitter account yielded exactly what I was looking for.
As instructed, I composed a quick reply and included the #AmazonCart hashtag to trigger the magic.
Almost immediately I received this notification from the @MyAmazon Twitter account:
Obviously I was a first-time user of this feature (as is everyone), so an extra step was necessary to confirm I wanted this added to my cart on Amazon.
From there, purchasing the DVD was business as usual. Replying to the tweet didn’t obligate me to purchase the movie, it just added it to my cart. I could have continued shopping on Amazon (or Twitter), but I was ready to get Frozen on its way to me.
Did I mention I love my Prime membership? Free 2-day shipping meant it would be here by Friday. Sure enough, right on time for the weekend!
Now here’s what I think is cool and could potentially be a game-changer. I love to shop on Amazon and I’m sure you do too. Sometimes I just want to browse, just like walking through a department store to see what catches my eye. Amazon does a decent job with its “recommendations”, but regardless of how good the AI is, it’ll never be perfect. I can see independent users creating curated lists of their own that would allow me to shop very specific categories that are of interest to me.
Want to see the “Top 10 Red Kitchen Utensils”? There’s a list for that (or will be)! How about “Seventy-four Ideas for the Adult Son Who Just Finished Probation”? There’s a list for that! Maybe even “Last-Minute Gifts Only Made in Zimbabwe”? Yep, there’s a list for that!
(I’m going to trademark that tagline right now!)
It also is a great way to share the interesting items you find on Amazon. Just tweet a link to any product and your followers can also purchase it directly via their Twitter account. For me there is a huge downside though…I now have to start religiously reading my Twitter feed! I wouldn’t want to miss a great deal!
Sounds very interesting and I rather like Twitter so much better than FB
I’ve been hearing alot about Amazon prime and want to try but don’t want to pay the high fee.
Here’s a little tip most don’t realize. With a Prime membership you can share the shipping benefits with four other family members! We share with our brother and my mom (in different states). The only thing that doesn’t share is the video streaming – that’s for the primary member only. Amazon Prime Sharing
That is a great tip, because I love Amazon and was not aware. This new buying with a hashtag thing could be really detrimental to our financial well- being. Going to try and behave!
That is interesting. I am one of those people who add things to my cart actually on the Amazon site and then I forget about them until the next time I log on!
I leave things in my Amazon cart all of the time. I love going back later to see what I added.
Looks pretty interesting. I am so not a browser though. I shop for a living as a Decorator, so I am always on a mission. get in, get what I need and get out
I LOVE Prime!! It makes my life so much easier especially when going to the store takes too much of my free time. Love the AmazonCart feature!
I love Twitter and I have to say that it is one of the social media platforms that I use the most. It is a great way to connect with others.
It’s an interesting feature that they have, not sure I will be using it though. My Amazon purchase are minimal and I don’t have a cool Prime membership! lol
I highly doubt I will use the cart tag. I’m not a huge twitter enthusiast. I do love my Amazon Prime though. I watch the free videos all the time and it’s now my prime online shopping site since I get the free shipping.
Do you know if it includes affiliate links when people send something out on Twitter? Obviously not from Amazon itself, but I would want disclosure (and to include one) if it’s affiliate from individuals.
My understanding is it works for any Amazon link, including affiliates. Curious, why do you care if you purchase through an affiliate link? (serious question)
Now this is handy! I didn’t realize they were doing it! And we LOVE Amazon Prime!
This is really cool! I need to try this out.
Sounds interesting to try, I’ve always been a big fan of Twitter because of how easy it is to use; people who are new to it, can easily learn how to use it.
I’d love to see a similar feature where it would pop into your wish list not your cart. Obviously, they want you to buy, but I’m not always ready to buy something that would look like the perfect Christmas present for someone months in advance.
100% agree, I thought of that also. Something like #AmazonWishList and you would have a custom wishlist on your Amazon account for all the Twitter adds.
Ohhhh I see this being wonderfully dangerous to my Visa card LOL
I love amazon prime too! I am like you, I will have to start using Twitter more. I don’t use it often enough. 🙂
Now that is pretty interesting. I am not sure I will use it but I say that about everything and then I jump right in and use it. I have Prime also and I love it!
I should just start having any paychecks I get delivered straight into my Amazon account. This is amazing.
I had heard a little bit about the Amazon Cart feature on Twitter, but I haven’t tried it out. I think I like Amazon too much and would get in trouble.
sounds good – but i’m a bit confused by the whole thing….
I have to admit I think this is a really neat idea – I’m not sure how often I see things tweeted on twitter that I want but when I do I am always forgetting later on and now I can’t! x
I have been horrible at Twitter myself for the last 3 years, but i am trying to get over my obstacles and get a stronger presence on twitter. I think the amazon cart option is pretty sweet!
That is so cool, I like Twitter and it would be awesome if it could evolve much more!
How cool is that! I love Amazon.
I love the Prime membership for the free 2 day shipping, I have only had one time that it took more than two days which was my most recent order. I had no idea that I could do thing through twitter though – I am a tweet and run kinda girl and need to learn more.
We would be utterly and totally lost without our Amazon Prime membership, but this is the first I’ve heard about the AmazonCart thing. Seems like a super easy way to add things to your cart, without the obligation to buy . . . but who am I kidding? I rarely leave Amazon without buying.
Amazon is pretty much my favorite thing ever. Genius. 🙂
Scott, this is so awesome! I love Amazon already. I am a Prime member too but now this? Wow! Thanks for sharing.
That’s a pretty crazy feature! I’m on Amazon all the time as it is–I don’t need any help shopping 🙂
I love Prime! Lost of good stuff through prime, love their downloads and shipping. Have used it for endless of years now, never without fail.
I heard about the Amazon Cart and Twitter integration last week. It’s pretty innovative! I might have to test it out. I shop with Amazon often because it’s so easy and I love my Amazon Prime membership!
I love Amazon!
Handy, but also dangerous for shop-a-holics! 🙂
I had no idea this was a thing. Thanks for the update. i will be sharing this with others.
I really like the idea of the Twitter/Amazon partnership. It won’t completely take Amazon out, either. The flash deals are only available on the Amazon site, so it really works out for both of them. Glad to hear you found Frozen without too much hassle.
Stock…I’d like to have Amazon and Twitter stock. 😉 I think this is going to be a huge hit!
Awesome post! Great review Scott 🙂 Thank you for sharing!!!
I love this! A marriage between Amazon and Twitter that only means a win-win for me!!
All this Tweet stuff is still over my head! I have an account and tweet about my blog posts but is anybody listening? Probably not, since I have maybe 2 followers. LOL. Oh well! At least I’m on FB. My nephew was pretty impressed with that!
All this Tweet stuff is still over my head! I have an account and tweet about my blog posts but is anybody listening? Probably not, since I have maybe 2 followers. LOL. Oh well! At least I’m on FB. My nephew was pretty impressed with that!
I leave stuff in my cart too. lol. Im glad that they leave it in there too.
Given how much I love Amazon and how much I shop there, this may actually give me a reason to spend more time on Twitter. Right now, it’s my least favorite platform because I can never say anything in under 140 characters, lol.
Nice! I had no idea you can use Twitter with Amazon this way. I’ll definitely give it a go!
This us amazing and very convenient! I just hope Twitter doesn’t become in early commercial and full of selling commercials. Still interesting people out there I want to follow!
I used to be one of those egg accounts on Twitter. I never used it for many years and even now use is occasionally. I think Amazon partnering with Twitter is great.
Amazon has stepped up in a unique way once again! How convenient is that? I will be using #AmazonCart http://www.parentinghealthy.com/
I have had Twitter for years and failed to use it as well. I only use it now to promote my blog and enter giveaways. I’m sure my followers think I am very un-personable.
That is such a cool way to shop. I love Amazon.
i think this is such a great idea. i am just afraid that i will start to use it too much and spend way too much.
I think this could be a good thing for me. I always forget that I wanted to order something. At least this way it’s in my cart and if I still want or need it I can get it. I was a little worried when I first heard about it because I thought you bought it right when you placed it in your cart. Now I like the idea of using the hashtag to shop.
I’m kind of skeptical about this new crossover. I don’t find it overly onerous to shop at Amazon, so I don’t think I’ll be using this Twitter hashtag. At least, that’s what I’m saying today; who knows what I’ll be saying a week or a month from now?
Thanks for the review and explanation of how it works. Very helpful!