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Amazon is testing a new “Consult-a-Friend” feature that allows shoppers to request, view, and manage their friends’ feedback on products within the Amazon Shopping app.
“Sometimes, it helps to get a little advice from your friends or family,” Oliver Messenger, director of Amazon Shopping, wrote in a blog entry. “But when it comes to online shopping, it can be hard to keep track of feedback from multiple people across messaging apps.”
To use the feature, Amazon app users have to:
- Select a product they’d like to “Consult-a-Friend” on and tap the “Share” button. First-time users need to toggle the “Ask for your friends’ votes” button from the default off position to on. Users then select their preferred messaging app and designated recipients.
- Their friends will receive a message directing them to tap the Consult-a-Friend link to enter the Amazon Shopping app, where they can view product details and select a quick emoji reaction (😍, ☹️, or 🤔). They also have the option to add commentary.
- Once friends reply, the user can view their collective sentiment and scroll to see all text commentary in the app.
As an example, Messenger said, “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.”
Surveys regularly show that product recommendations from friends and family are among the most trusted sources. A recent survey of Gen Z adults from Momentive found the most trusted sources for product recommendations were family, cited by 34%; followed by friends, 31%; influencers or creators I follow, 11%; and online forums, 7%.
Amazon noted that its customers so far this year have used the “Share” button in the Amazon Shopping app “billions of times” to share products via messaging services, social media apps, and e-mail.
Initial testing of “Consult-a-Friend” shows customers are particularly interested in getting feedback on apparel, shoes, electronics, and furniture, offering promise as a holiday shopping tool.
Amazon noted that it has been adding other features to “make shopping more collaborative,” including Inspire, an in-app TikTok-like feed of photos and videos customized to each user's interests and created by brands, influencers, and other customers. As part of the “Consult-a-Friend” launch, a new “Create” feature on Inspire makes it easier to take and upload pictures and images from phones, tag the product, and share.