Amazon reveals Twitter integration

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 - 14:32 by Graham Miller

A new service is being launched by e-commerce giant, Amazon, which will allow customers to fill their digital shopping carts just by using Twitter, in conjunction with a hashtag tailored specifically to this purpose.

The quest to integrate social media with shopping online has been going on for some time, so it is unsurprising that Amazon has eventually jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. And while this latest initiative is not quite the one-click order placement that retailers might desire, it comes closer than ever to achieving this goal.

For customers in the UK, it should be relatively simple to add items to an Amazon order via Twitter. All you need to do is use the hashtag #amazonbasket when you are replying to a tweet which contains a link to the product in question.

The link, of course, needs to point to an Amazon product page and you will need to synchronise your Twitter account with your existing Amazon account, but with all these things set up, it should be an intriguing new way to carry out safe shopping online.

Over two hundred and fifty million people from across the world now actively use Twitter. And while the organisation is still making a loss, it is hoping that tie-ins with major advertisers and retailers, like Amazon, will help it to move into profitability, following in the footsteps of Facebook.

In a video from Amazon, the various benefits of the hashtag have been espoused, including the idea that it will mean people can get through a lot of the shopping process without having to sign in to multiple accounts and juggle browser windows.

It is likely to take some time for the use of the hashtag to catch on and Amazon will be monitoring it carefully to ensure that it is a success.