Amazon pilots collaborative mobile shopping feature
Amazon is testing a capability that lets shoppers request, view and manage their friends’ feedback on products within its consumer app.
Known as Consult-a-Friend, the feature lets Amazon app users select a product and tap the “Share” button, then choose a preferred messaging app and designated recipients. Recipients will receive a message directing them to tap the Consult-a-Friend link to enter the Amazon shopping app, where they can view product details and select an emoji reaction. They also have the option to add commentary.
Once friends reply, app users can view their collective sentiment and scroll to see all text commentary within the app. According to Amazon, early testing indicates that customers are most interested in getting feedback on apparel, shoes, electronics and furniture.
“Customers look to a variety of sources when making purchasing decisions, and recommendations from friends and family are often among the most trusted sources,” Oliver Messenger, director, Amazon Shopping, said in a corporate blog post. “Our own data supports that customers are frequently sharing products with others.”
Consult-a-Friend is currently being tested with select customers in the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, UAE and the U.K.
Amazon launches product sharing on Inspire
Consult-a-Friend isn’t the only new feature Amazon is rolling out in an effort to help make shopping more collaborative. In December 2022, the e-tailer added a Tik Tok-inspired feature called Inspire to its shopping app.
Inspire is designed to provide customers with a new way to discover ideas, explore products, and seamlessly shop from content created by other customers, influencers, and brands. Now, customers can share favorite products with other shoppers on Inspire with the new “Create” feature.
Utilizing Inspire Create, customers can take a shoppable photo or video of products in-app or upload content from their phone, tag the product, and share the image or video.
Inspire is available to U.S. customers on the Amazon shopping app on iOS and Android.
“Every day, customers turn to their communities to gather shopping inspiration and advice, so we are making it easy to connect with and learn from each other—whether it be from friends and family, or a broader community of influencers and customers that share the same interests,” Messenger said in the blog post. We’ll continue to test and learn as we introduce new ways for customers to turn product ideas and inspiration into packages on their doorsteps.”