I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop about #AmazonCart has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias.

AmazonCart - What is it and why would I want to use it - tutorial - #AmazonCart #cbias #shop

Amazon released a new way of shopping and I’m pretty excited about! Why? Because Amazon is my go-to store for everything from groceries to electronics. You can’t beat the quick shipping (in my case thanks to Amazon Prime) and great service. Plus I love that I can read reviews and research products before I buy them right here from my home and without wasting gas driving from store to store.

What #AmazonCart does is extend Amazon’s shopping functionality to Twitter. Now whenever you see an Amazon product link in a Tweet (example amzn.to/10AqKpp ), you can add that product to your Amazon Shopping cart by simply replying to the tweet with the hashtag #AmazonCart. Within a few minutes that product will be in your Amazon shopping cart and ready for check out. Cool huh!

I know for me that means that know when I see a review or recommendation that I want to check up on, I can reply with #AmazonCart and that item or items will be there waiting for me the next time I log into Amazon. No more taking notes, creating bookmarks, and favoriting Tweets to remind myself to go back and find out more information. Now the item(s) are in my cart ready for me to either checkout or do some more investigation before I decide to buy.

AmazonCart - How it Works - 3 Step Tutorial #AmazonCart #cbias #shop

Using #AmazonCart

I gave this new method of online shopping a try tonight. I’m putting together a BBQ and that meant a complete backyard overhaul which included painting the deck, so it’s a chance to make some color changes. We’re going with sea glass and gray color scheme so I’ve been looking for some decorative pieces I can use to evoke the feel of the ocean. With the new #AmazonCart features, I can look for fabulous pieces while I’m chatting with my friends on Twitter by following one or more of Amazon’s Twitter handles or any other retailer, blogger, or friend who posts Amazon links.

My friends and I can also work together by group shopping. They can share items from Amazon to Twitter that I might like and when someone hits on a piece I love, I can put that item in my Amazon cart right from Twitter.

Since I’m looking for specific items, I shared a few options  from Amazon to get some input from my Followers and then replied with #AmazonCart to add the ones I decided to purchase. I received an email and Tweet from Amazon telling me that my items were in stock and available in my shopping cart.

I logged into my Amazon account to complete my shopping and then checked out – it was so easy! Most of my items will arrive in just 2-days thanks to my Amazon Prime account. The items not shipped by Amazon will arrive a few days later, but all will arrive in time for our BBQ.

Anyone with a public Twitter account and Amazon account can use this new service though you’ll need to take a moment to authorize your Twitter account with Amazon. It’s super easy to do and takes just a minute or two. Once you’ve completed the authorization you’re all set to go! If your  try to use #AmazonCart without doing the authorization, you’ll receive a notice that you need to go through the set-up.

AmazonCart - Quick Tutorial and Overview on How it Works #AmazonCart #cbias #shop

#AmazonCart Hints & Tips

  • When replying to add the item to your cart, there’s no way to know if the item is in stock or not. The system checks the status and then sends you a message with the information via Twitter and email. It’s this stock check which may be the reason the service takes a few minutes to complete. If you’ve triggered the cart addition via Twitter, wait a few minutes before checking your cart on Amazon or Tweeting again. Additionally, on one attempt my cart didn’t show the addition of any items, but when I opened my shopping cart, the item was there.
  • Free Kindle eBooks can’t be added via #AmazonCart. I tried and received an email saying digital products are not currently part of the #AmazonCart project. But that’s only partly true. I did purchase a regular Kindle book and upgraded it to the Audible.com version with the new #AmazonCart feature with no problem. In fact Amazon tweeted me to tell me they’d also set me up with a free preview. Nice touch!
  • I also discovered that if you’re going to use the #AmazonCart function on more than one item on the same day, you can’t use just the #AmazonCart hashtag in the reply. Twitter will tell you you’ve already sent that tweet. What it’s looking for is a unique tweet so simply add a sentence or a few words on the subsequent replies so that they will not be seen as duplicate tweets.
  • When you reply with #AmazonCart you’ll receive a tweet from @MyAmazon and email when the item is added to your cart if you’ve linked your Twitter account to your Amazon account (personally I’d have preferred one or the other and not both – setting a preference when authorizing my Twitter account would have been ideal). If you haven’t linked your accounts, you can still use the feature but you’ll get a Tweet asking you to enable the feature with a link to complete the process.

AmazonCart - How to Set Up Your Account #AmazonCart #cbias #shop

How you can use #AmazonCart to save Big

Amazon has some amazing deals, but many times they’re limited to a single day or a specific amount of stock. In the past when deal bloggers shared those links via Twitter it was a mad dash to Amazon to purchase them before they sold out.

Now using #AmazonCart you have a chance to add those deals directly to your cart and check out quickly snagging those great deals. Adding One-Click checkout and Amazon Prime, you’ve got a deal grabbing powerhouse setup for saving money. But remember, you need to complete the purchase on Amazon before they sell out.

What’s Next for #AmazonCart?

While I’m sure there will be some changes over time, the initial launch of this new shopping options seems to be going well. I loved the ease of adding products to my shopping cart and am looking forward to using it often.

What’s not known is how this new feature is going to affect the way we communicate on Twitter. Will this new functionally add to the experience or turn it into a giant billboard? Twitter users will ultimately decide its fate, but to know whether it adds value or not, I challenge you to give it a try. I think you’ll see the value lands on the buyer’s side on this one.

Want more great deals? Follow Amazon on Twitter

@amazon@amazonmp3@AmazonKindle@amazondeals@AmazonVideo@amazontechdeals@amazongames@AmazonFashion@amazon_movies@amazonappstore@amazonbooks@AmazonMusic@AmazonAppDev, and @AmazonToys.

Need More Info?

On Twitter you can tweet @AmazonHelp for assistance. You can also visit www.amazon.com/help for general questions.

Ready to give it a try? Check the AmazonCart promo video and read the FAQ’s here.

What do you think? Will you try this new shopping functionality?