Amazon is testing a “Consult-a-Friend” feature that lets customers “quickly and easily request, view, and manage your friends’ feedback on products within the Amazon Shopping app.”
There’s nothing in the description that indicates sellers could use it to boost their items, but it did highlight just how often customers share products with others: “So far this year, customers used the “Share” button in the Amazon Shopping app billions of times to share products via messaging services, social media apps, and email,” it said in Thursday’s announcement.
Amazon used two examples to show how customers might use the app:
- “Our early testing has shown that customers are particularly interested in getting feedback on apparel, shoes, electronics, and furniture;”
- “Not sure what to get your notoriously hard-to-buy-for dad? Survey your siblings on the newest model smart TV and see their responses in one spot.”
The feature is available in the Amazon mobile app. Once a customer shares a product with others, recipients can tap the Consult-a-Friend link to enter the Amazon Shopping app, where they can view product details and select a quick emoji reaction (a love face, a sad face, or a thinking face). They also have the option to add commentary, Amazon explained.
“Once they reply, you can easily view their collective sentiment and scroll to see all text commentary in the Amazon Shopping app. All you need is your mobile device and your trusted community of shopping advisors to make confident purchasing decisions at home and on the go.”
Amazon is currently testing Consult-a-Friend with select customers in the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, UAE, and the UK.
Amazon also noted it had added another collaborative shopping experience earlier in the year called Inspire, “a new in-app shopping feed that’s personalized with shoppable photos and videos tailored to your selected interests and engagement,” it explained on the Amazon.com Inspire landing page. “You can also create your own shoppable posts to share your favorite Amazon finds with other customers.”
