Twitter has just introduced its first commerce product; “buy” button that can be embedded in posts to allow users to buy a product with a couple of clicks. The feature, initially aimed at selling limited-edition or time-sensitive items such as T-shirts and event tickets, could eventually create a new revenue stream for the social network, which currently relies on advertising for virtually all of its income. The test comes as competition in the world of mobile e-commerce intensifies.
The company says it will be visible to “a small percentage of U.S. users (that will grow over time).” As a result, users will actually be able to make purchases directly within tweets. If you see something you want, you hit “buy”, bring up a little information, enter your payment and shipping information while still Twitter (it’s encrypted and stored for future purchases), and complete the transaction “in just a few taps.”
For its part, Twitter describes this as “an early step in our building functionality into Twitter to make shopping from mobile devices convenient and easy, hopefully even fun,” so you can probably expect its commerce initiatives to expand.
Mr. Hubbard, the former Chief Executive of Ticketmaster, who joined Twitter a year ago to lead its commerce efforts said the test would initially be limited to a small number of Twitter users in the United States and would include items for sale from 19 entities, including popular musicians like Rihanna and Eminem, nonprofit groups like the Nature Conservancy and DonorsChoose, and the retailers Home Depot and Burberry.
Stripe, a payment processor that is used by many e-commerce companies, will handle the financial side of the transactions. And three marketing platforms — Fancy, Musictoday and Gumroad — will work with the sellers to handle product presentation and order fulfillment.
