The goWholesale Blog

Oh So Textual! *Text Message Shopping Has Arrived*

April 7th, 2008

I remember the days when cell phones were exciting because they were cordless AND you could use them past your front porch without it crackling and buzzing you deaf. Then came the ringtones. And the cameras. And the text messages, email, internet, music and video. I can’t afford the latest and greatest (mine simply allows for phone calls and a few texts) but when they add a “Makes You Breakfast in Bed” feature I’ll seriously consider upgrading.

But as is, I, along with countless others, still possess the capability of participating in text shopping, the latest service offered by Amazon.com called TextBuyIt. Here’s how it works (courtesy detnews.com):

“It lets people text the name of a product, its description or its UPC or ISBN to 262966 (that’s “Amazon” on the keypad) from anywhere their cell phones work — including from inside physical stores.

If Amazon stocks matching items, the service returns two results at a time. Shoppers can immediately buy one of the first two the selections by texting back the number “1″ or “2,” or they can ask for more by texting the letter “M.”

New TextBuyIt customers will be prompted to enter the e-mail address associated with their existing Amazon account plus a shipping zip code. The service then calls them and walks through the checkout process using an automated voice system. Shoppers get confirmation by text message and e-mail.

From there, the customers can check on order status on Amazon’s Website.”

First I just have to say that I think this is pretty awesome–as a consumer that is. I keep thinking that there is no way things can get easier and lo and behold, someone finds a way. I’m not so sure I would use this personally (remember, I’m too cheap to upgrade to a cooler cell phone so I’m not exactly a ’shopping on demand’ kind of person) but I do know that this service will likely be widely accepted by shoppers and replicated and perfected in different forms by Amazon’s top competitors.

So what kind of effect do you think this will have on brick and mortar stores? Or small businesses for that matter that do not possess the capabilities of offering such a service in order to compete with Amazon?

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Posted in E-Commerce and E-Business, In the News |

2 Responses to “Oh So Textual! *Text Message Shopping Has Arrived*”

    Great article….I am still awaiting the cell phone that will scan a barcode while I am in a store and produce product comparison rates from the top five big box giants. This would ease the felling of, “Am I really getting a good deal?”. Having to text the UPC code is cumbersome for an old guy like me.

  1. Posted by Robert Cyr on April 8th, 2008 at 10:46 am

    2. [...] Okay, don’t freak…there was no Part I so don’t go looking for it. Well, there sort of was…this is simply an addendum to my previous post Oh So Textual! *Text Message Shopping Has Arrived*. [...]

  2. Posted by Crazy Breakfast Making Cell Phones - Part II | The goWholesale Blog on April 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm

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