Amazon has debuted its new SMS purchasing service, TextBuyIt, allowing users to find and buy items from Amazon.com using their mobile phones.
Say you’re in the local bookstore, and you think that the art book you’re paging through would look fabulous in the middle of your new IKEA coffee table. But, it’s fifty bucks, and you really don’t want to pay that much just to impress your mom, your hipster friends, and prospective girlfriends. Just whip out your trusty cell phone and text the title of said art book to AMAZON (262966) and Amazon will send you back the first two results from the search. If you decide to purchase one of the items in your results, text back with 1 or 2 and Amazon will call you back to confirm your purchase via their automated voice ordering system.
I don’t know about you, but for me this could be a problem. My phone sends accidental text messages all the time. I can see looking up a book via SMS and having my phone call me back a while later to confirm my purchase. Thank goodness for me that you have to confirm your zip code and email before the purchase goes through to the automated system.
Either way, this is the next wave in the SMS takeover of our lives. We can control eBay, search Google, and even hold entire conversations with a friend without picking up the phone. I receive Borders coupons via SMS instead of having to print out the discounts I get in Borders Rewards emails. Before too long, companies are going to use cell phone tower triangulation to pinpoint our locations and send us text message advertisements based on our surroundings.
And don’t forget about the new products and services Amazon has been steadily rolling out over the past couple of years. Amazon MP3, Unbox, Amazon Grocery, the Kindle, and now TextBuyIt. Sure, I don’t actually know anyone who uses any of the above, and the Kindle is ugly and overpriced, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping Amazon from trying to weasel their way into every corner of our lives. They’re just like Google, only not free.
What do you think about the TextBuyIt? Is it a service you can see yourself using? Do you currently use your mobile phone to shop? Talk back in the comments.