Twitter send off a pilot in the U.S. aimed at testing the potential for e-commerce on its platform. The company is presenting a new “Shop Module” that offers brands, businesses, and other retailers the capacity to showcase their products to Twitter users directly on the business’ profile.
Users can then scroll through a carousel of product images in the module and tap through a product they’re interested in purchasing. This opens up the business’ website inside the Twitter app itself, where the customer can learn more about the product in question and select to make a purchase.
The Shop Module will appear in a new, dedicated space at the highest point of a supported Twitter profile, which should be visible to U.S. users in English on iOS devices.
The company told that main businesses with a Professional Profile will actually want to use the feature now.
Professional Profiles, which began testing in April, give businesses, nonprofits, publishers, and creators the capacity to show specific information about their business directly on their profile, including things like their address, phone number, and operating hours, and that’s just the beginning. Essentially, it’s the Twitter equivalent of something like a Facebook Page for a business.
At the send-off, the new Shop Module will be made available to just a small group of pilot testers.
As well as gaming retailer @GameStop and travel brand @ArdenCove, Twitter says there may be approximately 10 other brands across the lifestyle, traditional retail, gaming, media and entertainment, tech, and telco industries who will gain access to the new feature.
At present, Twitter isn’t offering a way for interested businesses to sign up for the pilot because the company is just in the initial phases of testing this feature, it said.
While Twitter users often examine products on the app and even reach out to companies directly for help with purchases, it’s unclear whether users will come to view Twitter as a shopping platform.
With the pilot, Twitter means to better understand what could help it make that shift by tracking which types of products drive traffic to online retailers.
For example, it needs to determine whether people are inspired by online conversations in the heat of the moment, like sports fans buying team apparel or whether Twitter users could be encouraged to make purchases of a more enduring effect, like products for a new skincare routine. Having a diverse lineup of early pilot testers will help the company to compare data across verticals to learn what works best.
Twitter says it will likewise work directly with businesses to better understand their needs through the creation of a new Merchant Advisory Board, which will comprise “best-in-class examples” of merchants on Twitter.
The company earlier this year mentioned its plans to expand into eCommerce. At Twitter’s Analyst Day presentation in February, where it previously announced its Super Follow platform for creators, the company additionally briefly spoke about its eCommerce investments.
We’re … beginning to explore ways of bettering support commerce on Twitter. We realize people come to Twitter to interact with brands and examine their favorite products. As a matter of fact, you might have even noticed some businesses already developing creative ways of enabling sales on our platform. This demand gives us confidence in the power of joining the real-time conversation with an engaged and intentional audience. Imagine easily discovering, and immediately purchasing, a new skincare product or trendy sneaker from a brand you follow with a few ticks.
Twitter Revenue Lead Bruce Falck
Since then, Twitter has tested a new eCommerce feature for tweets, which allowed businesses to link out to online product pages, like those on a Shopify store, for instance.
Twitter CFO Ned Segal likewise touted the potential to shop on Twitter when speaking to investors at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Communications conference in May, taking note that people “do a great deal of research on Twitter before they purchase something.“
Twitter’s entry into online shopping comes when major tech companies and social platforms are sloping up their investments in eCommerce. Facebook has made significant moves into eCommerce with shopping features across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, including initiatives like online storefronts, integrated checkout, product drops, and video shopping, from there, the sky is the limit.
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Shopify has likewise partnered with a number of tech platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, and Google, to make it easier for consumers to connect with products sold by its merchants.
It’s quite important that Twitter previously attempted to run a commerce operation and failed. In 2017, the company began to unwind its “Purchase” button product, which had allowed Twitter users to snap to make purchases and the retailer partnerships associated with that effort due to the absence of a foothold.
Clearly, the company believes the time is currently right to attempt again.
