Amazon wants to make shopping online as easy as a tweet.

The online retailer is introducing a service that lets Twitter users add Amazon.com products to their carts without leaving the social media site.

Here’s how Amazon says it works in three steps:

1. Connect your Twitter account to Amazon
2. Reply with #AmazonCart to any tweet containing an Amazon product link
3. Finish shopping later – the item has been added to your Cart

The service comes as Amazon seeks to make social media a bigger source for sales. Twitter also has been seeking new revenue streams beyond advertising services like promoted tweets.

Under the program, users must link their Amazon.com account with their Twitter account. Then they need to add the hashtag #AmazonCart when replying to a tweet that has an Amazon product link. The product will then be automatically added to their shopping cart.

Twitter users will get a reply tweet from @MyAmazon as well as an email from Amazon when the item is successfully added to their cart.

The service is for U.S. customers only, although U.K. users have a similar service with the hashtag #AmazonBasket.

“This is an example of the constant innovation both Amazon and Twitter are using to push social shopping forward, but I don’t think it’s going to be a huge needle mover for either company,” said CRT Capital analyst Neil Doshi. “More and more people are showing items they’ve bought on Twitter, so it might be a way for followers to buy something more quickly.”

FAQ About the Service

Amazon offered an FAQ about the program for all you Twitter users-to-be-Amazon shoppers:

  • Why do I need to connect my Twitter account?

By connecting your Twitter and Amazon accounts, you are telling Amazon that #AmazonCart requests coming from your Twitter account should be added to your Amazon.com Shopping Cart. Without that link, Amazon would not know to which customer’s Cart to add the item. To edit your connection preferences, visit your Social Settings or opt out of having Amazon respond to your #AmazonCart requests here (your accounts must be connected in order to opt out).

  • Am I buying it when I reply with “#AmazonCart”?

No, replying with “#AmazonCart” will only save the item to your Cart. You can always review or edit your Cart at a later time. You will also receive a reply tweet from @MyAmazon describing the status of your request (e.g., whether the item was successfully added to your Cart, if it was out of stock, or how you can finish checking out later).

  • Who can see what I’ve added to my Cart?

Most content is public on Twitter, so your #AmazonCart replies will be visible to whomever you replied, to those viewing the conversation,and on your own Timeline (unless your Twitter account is set to private).

What if I have more questions?
Feel free to direct any other questions you may have about #AmazonCart to @AmazonHelp on Twitter, or visit www.amazon.com/help for general questions.