Amazon Shopping Made Easy by SnapChat

Published On September 25, 2018 | By Tom Huskerson | News and Analysis

If you are an Amazon shopper, and lets be real, who isn’t, things just got easier. Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer and social media player SnapChat have hooked up.

It’s a rare for Amazon to team up with anybody. They don’t need to. But they like SnapChat. The new relationship will help Snapchat compete with Instagram and Pinterest for social shopping cash. Snapchat announced it’s  dropping a new visual product search feature using images and barcodes. The move, code named “Eagle,” was first reported by TechCrunch in July.

The idea is, if you see it, and like it, you can buy it. SnapChat users can use their camera to scan the item or the universal bar barcode. That brings up a card showing the item or something similar with the title, price, a thumbnail image, average review score and Amazon Prime availability. Just tap on it and you’ll be whisked away to Amazon’s app or website to buy it.

Social media shopping or social commerce is taking off in a big way and Amazon wants in on the deal.  SnapChat hopes to stem the loss of daily users that has dropped from 191 million to just over 188 million. Social site Instagram launched Shopping tags in Stories and a dedicated a Shopping channel in Explore. Pinterest opened up Shop the Look pins and hitting 250 million monthly users. SnapChat hopes the new feature will blend with its young and culture-obsessed audience.

Breaking It Down

This move is all about new markets for Amazon. SnapChat is a young people’s game. This new generation is all about their smartphones and selfies and pictures and social media. They’ve moved away from Facebook and Amazon has seen it. They have also moved away from traditional online shopping as well as the malls. So how do you get with the new young audience and new way of shopping? You get into their world. A young person will see  a new pair for sneakers or jacket on a Kardasian and want it. SnapChat sees it and Amazon sells it.

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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