TextBuyIt™
by Imran Ali
Yesterday, Amazon launched TextBuyIt - an interesting SMS interface for it’s retail services.
Users can now text some keywords (item name, description, ASIN or ISBN codes) to Amazon whereupon they receive an SMS reply from which they can view more detail or choose to buy the item. Amazon then call the user to confirm shipping and payment information.
The service is technically novel (though Amabuddy and Ringfo have explored similar themes) illustrating an interesting ‘command-line Amazon’ interface.
I’m not sure how widely used it will be in anything other than price comparisons when a user is, for example, in a bookstore and wishes to compare retail prices with Amazon items. Still it’s a good precedent for mobile commerce with what appears to be a reasonably good user experience.
