An Amazon-Facebook Alliance to Make Shopping More Social - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

On Tuesday, Amazon.com took a step toward making the shopping experience on its Web site more social.

For many people, shopping is as much about socializing as it is about buying something — a chance to run into neighbors at the farmers’ market or spend time with a friend at the mall. And people who go shopping with a friend inevitably ask advice before buying. But it’s hard to do that when online shopping.

Now, Amazon shoppers who connect their Amazon and Facebook accounts transport their Facebook friends to Amazon — and can get recommendations from those friends on what to buy.

Amazon was an early leader in offering recommendations based on previous purchases and product searches, and in posting customer reviews on the site. But it has been slow to incorporate social features, while start-ups like Go Try It On, Polyvore and Swipely have been experimenting with ways to make online shopping more interactive.

Amazon’s new feature is the company’s small first step toward tapping into the world of social shopping.

When shoppers connect their Amazon and Facebook accounts, they see their Facebook profile photo on Amazon’s site. They also see which of their Facebook friends have upcoming birthdays, and receive gift suggestions based on the music, books and movies those friends have said they like on Facebook and on their Amazon wish lists. At the same time, they see recommendations on what to buy for themselves, based on what their friends like.

Mary Osako, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the company was hoping to improve customers’ shopping experiences and help them find friends with shared interests while shopping.

Shopping activity on Amazon will not be shared with Facebook, Amazon said. That means that shoppers’ purchase history and account information will never appear on Facebook. And this will be a relief to people who remember the Beacon blunder, when Facebook shared Christmas gift purchases with users’ friends.