Twitter Breaks Into the E-commerce Industry
Alison Anderson
16 Mar 2022
alk and rumors that Twitter will have a more convenient way to sell goods have been around for quite some time. Back in the summer of last year, the developers tested The Shop Module with selected US creators, allowing them to showcase just five products. Apparently, the development and implementation of the “Shops” feature are now in full swing. As part of this tool, brands and DIYers will be able to demonstrate about 50 products to their consumers.
It is known that companies from the United States will be able to take part in the beta testing of Shops on Twitter, and the offered goods will only be visible to users with iPhones for now. The option to browse the store will be available right above the tweets and presumably work better than the Twitter Shopping feature. After clicking on the appropriate button, users will be redirected to a page with goods available for purchase.
Verizon has already tested the new functionality. It posted cases for Apple devices and wireless chargers on its Twitter page. Users could go to the store, get acquainted with the assortment, and choose the product they liked. After that, they were automatically transferred to the product purchase page on the seller’s website. That is, it’s impossible to conduct a transaction on Twitter itself. Whether the developers plan to change this sale order is still unknown.
These efforts aim to take a bite out of the e-commerce industry, where the leading platforms are Instagram and Facebook (owned by the same company). According to approximate estimates of experts, this area is valued at about $45 billion. Of course, other services also want to access this money. In particular, Twitter also works on live shopping, which has become quite a popular feature on various platforms. That is, you can buy the product you like right during the stream about this item.
Do you think Twitter will be able to compete in e-commerce with Instagram and Facebook?