Text-Buy-It, By Amazon

The reason Amazon.com is such a big hit is that it presented its site not only to purchase things but to get information about them.  A lot of people, including myself, go there to get specs, information and reviews before purchasing something elsewhere.

Now, with its new feature “Texbuyit“, they have opened up a whole new sales portal.

Amazon Textbuyit allows cell-phone users to find products and pricing, and even buy items from Amazon.com - all through text messaging. The service is free (other than standard messaging fees) and anyone can use it by simply sending a text message to 262966 (AMAZON).

Here’s how it works: a user messages keywords related to a product (for example - looking for pricing on the book “Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich”, send a message that says “pistol: maravich”) and, about a minute later, the sender receives a text message with two numbered items and prices. From there, the user can text “m” for more results, the item number followed by “d” for more details (including whether the item’s in stock and its average Amazon star rating) or text back the number of the item (either 1 or 2) to purchase it. If a person chooses to buy an item, the individual will immediately receive a call on his or her cell phone to confirm the order

Along with the ability to buy items via text message (the main reason Amazon offers the service), Textbuyit gives people a handy way to compare prices. Since Amazon.com usually has some of the lowest prices around, it’s common practice for many people to do a quick Amazon search before buying anything. Textbuyit enables people to do such price checks from inside book stores, music stores or electronics stores – without actually making a phone call or pulling out a laptop. And if a person finds an item is cheaper on Amazon, they can order it instantly. Amazon charges no additional fees for ordering via text, but users should be aware that Amazon’s text price quotes don’t include shipping and handling (though items over $25 generally ship free).

Along with this new service, Amazon also recently partnered with TiVo to enable individuals to shop through their TV sets.