Social shopping is an absolute buzzword in the e-commerce world. Now, Amazon has unveiled a groundbreaking social shopping feature, “Consult-a-Friend,” to help consumers seek product advice online shopping.
The new feature lets shoppers directly solicit opinions from their trusted friends through the Amazon app. By simply sending a message to selected individuals, shoppers can include a link to the product in question, enabling friends to respond with emojis and optional commentary.
Phone-a-friend?
The underlying concept behind Consult-a-Friend is to empower customers to make more informed purchase decisions.
The giant e-tailer recognizes that recommendations from friends and family are among the most trusted sources for shoppers. Leveraging its own internal data, it has identified that customers were already sharing products for feedback through the app’s existing “Share” button on iOS and Android platforms.
In fact, this sharing behavior was so prevalent that shoppers pressed the button “billions of times” this year, utilizing messaging services, social media apps, and email to connect with their networks.
Amazon consultations
Consult-a-Friend is designed to augment this natural sharing instinct that humans have. This is especially true in product categories where customers seek additional feedback, such as apparel, shoes, electronics, and furniture.
It arrives just in time for the bustling holiday shopping season, providing an avenue for customers to seek opinions from friends and family on potential gifts for mutual acquaintances.
Crucially, for privacy-conscious users, Amazon ensures that recipients can only respond if they are signed into their Amazon account within the Amazon Shopping app.
How it works
To utilize this feature, Amazon app users need to activate the “Ask for your friends’ votes” button upon their first attempt. They can then choose their preferred messaging app to share the product link with their selected contacts.
Friends who receive the message can follow the link to the Amazon Shopping app, view product details, and express their sentiments using emojis like heart eyes, sad face, or thinking face. Additionally, they have the option to type a reply.
Amazon emphasizes that it does not collect personal information like emails from non-Amazon customers through this feature.
Upon gathering responses from friends and family, the sender can view the collective sentiments and text commentary within the Amazon shopping app.
This feature is now accessible in the Amazon app across various countries, including the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, UAE, and the UK.
Get inspiration
In tandem with this social shopping feature, Amazon is also introducing a new addition to its “Inspire” shopping feed – the “Create” feature.
This enhancement allows more users to participate in the platform, enabling them to share their favorite products through quick photos or videos. After content approval, these posts will be publicly displayed in Inspire’s feed, allowing users to track their posts and engagement on their public profiles.
About the author
Marce has contributed tech to various prominent publications since 2018, offering a transparent perspective into the tech industry and its effects on its users. She now spends her time developing insightful content for industry players. You know, when she's not gaming or geeking out about the latest fad.
