Amazon has found a new way to make money from its apps, and it has nothing to do with clicking on an ad. The company already has an official app for iOS, and now it has launched a new feature called "Flow." What it does is allow users scan items with their iPhone's camera and then buy that very item on Amazon.com via the app.
Flow only works with iOS 7 and works best if the user is looking up products such as books, packaged groceries, video games and DVDs, according to Amazon. The only hard work the user needs to do is move the iPhone's camera towards an item, and the Amazon app will look it up and give the user the option to purchase it on Amazon.com. Furthermore, users have the option to scan for multiple items at the same time. Once the item is found, the app is saved to the history, allowing the user to add to the shopping cart or save it for a later date.
This isn't the first time we've seen Flow. Amazon had released a standalone app back in 2011, and what the company has done now is make it an important part of the official Amazon app. The Flow standalone app is still available for iOS and Android, though we expect the company to pull it after users realize it's now a part of the central app experience.
The ability for smartphone users to scan barcodes have always been something interesting, but due to the amount of complexity behind it for some users, it's not very convenient to use since, in some cases, barcodes are not easily found. Furthermore, some smartphone users might not have the slightest idea where to look for a barcode on an item, or they might not even know what a barcode is. Surprisingly, this is true and these things tend to happen a lot in our world.
So what Amazon has done here is a stroke of genius, and it could force competitors such as eBay to create a similar feature for its standalone app.
"They don't need the phone. The hardware space is a complex and ruthless business, and they can achieve the same thing with an application to engage users that way," said Carolina Milanesi, strategic insight director for Kantar Worldpanel.
"If the goal is to sell more, then they are better off coming up with an app that makes shopping easier, which is what they have done with Flow."
As time goes by, Flow should be able to recognize other items such as a headphone or any other form of gadget. The app is available now on iTunes as a free download for iOS 7 devices.
