Amazon Lets Customers Shop Without Leaving Twitter

Amazon announced a new feature, tentatively called #AmazonCart, that would allow customers to fill their shopping carts without leaving the social network at all. Users would connect their Twitter and Amazon accounts via their social settings. Then, all you’d be required to do is reply to any tweet containing an Amazon product link with #AmazonCart and the item would be automatically added to your basket. Unlike similar twitter services that have come before it, this service does not allow you to purchase the product directly – it will just save it for your basket for later, in an “add it now, buy it later” policy. As more of these twitter use-cases bubble up, it will be interesting to watch if and/or how the shift towards purchasing affects the way people – and indeed brands – use the social network.