Twitter tests e-commerce waters with new feature for in-app purchases

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A new Twitter feature would put the company in competition with social e-commerce giants like TikTok and Instagram. Called Twitter Shops, the experimental feature lets brands who create a shop can curate up to 50 items to include, which Twitter users can then buy via an in-app browser from the merchant’s website.

After a brand or business enables a Twitter Shop, a new “View shop” button will appear on its profile page, directly above its tweets. It looks like this:

For now, only iPhone users can view and interact with the shops. This is much the same way the Twitter Shop Module was rolled out last year. That feature was more limited, allowing brands to show up to five products on their profile, in the same location as the Twitter Shops “View shop” button.

Availability. Twitter only mentioned five brands that have enabled their shops. Those are:

Twitter Shops are only available to select merchants and managed partners in the U.S., according to Twitter’s blog post. Twitter isn’t charging brands to open a Shop.

What it looks like. A Twitter Shop contains a product image, product name, product type, and price.

What Twitter says about Shops. “People are already talking about products on Twitter. We want Twitter Shops to be the home for merchants on Twitter where they can intentionally curate a catalog of products for their Twitter audience,” said a spokesperon for Twitter.

Why we care. Social commerce is going to be a big deal. Social media advertising is well established, so why not create a compelling path to purchase within the same channel? Facebook, Instagram, and other social networks have rolled out similar shops. While Twitter has fewer users than those networks, if your target customers use Twitter, it may be worth testing out Shops to see if it can help drive conversions.