• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 24, 2014

Amazon introduced #AmazonWishList Wednesday, allowing customers to add items to their Amazon Wish List without leaving Twitter. Users can respond to any Tweet that contains an Amazon product link from favorite artists, experts, brands, or friends by replying with #amazonwislist on Twitter to add the product to their Amazon Wish List.

The search and discovery tool builds on the recent launch of #AmazonCart. After connecting their Twitter and Amazon accounts, it notifies customers with a reply Tweet from @MyAmazon or an email from Amazon when items are successfully added to their Wish List or whether the items are out of stock.

The tool aims to help shoppers during the holiday season find, give and receive items they want most. It also should cut down on some of the returns, which can cost retailers millions of dollars.

John Yurcisin, Amazon director of social, said in a prepared statement that Twitter offers Amazon customers a good environment for discovery.

Consumers to review or edit their Wish Lists at any time. Using the service requires customers to connect their Twitter and Amazon.com accounts, or receive a reply tweet asking them to follow through to enable the new feature.

Consumers added 50 items to Amazon Wish Lists every second last year, and during the holiday season, customers added seven books and five toys every second to Amazon Wish Lists, per Amazon.

Consumers can save an idea and search for it later by adding a virtual note to an Amazon Wish List. A feature in the service hides from the Wish List creator the items that friends and family purchase, so every gift remains a surprise. Once an item is purchased from an Amazon Wish List, other shoppers will see only what remains on the Wish List to avoid duplicates.