Twitter begins testing new shopping feature for businesses

Twitter’s interest in building new features for businesses falls in line with an increasing appetite for online shopping

File: The Twitter logo is seen here on the screen of a smartphone and a tablet in Toulouse, France (AFP via Getty Images)

Social media giant Twitter is piloting a new feature that will allow users to buy directly from the profiles of brands.

The feature, called the “Shop Module,” aims to bridge the gap between discovering products on the platform and then purchasing them. 

The new feature is a dedicated space at the top of a profile, where businesses can showcase their products and is currently available only in the US for iOS device users, according to the microblogging platform.

“With this pilot, we’ll get to explore how our engaged, responsive and chatty audience reacts to products that are emotionally charged – like a new jersey from your favourite sports team – or that provide lasting impact, like a new skincare regimen,” the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Twitter also noted that it is creating a new Merchant Advisory Board that will consist of brands that have established themselves as “best-in-class examples of merchants on the platform.”

“With their partnership, we hope to more easily address the needs of businesses of any size or vertical in our product innovation,” Twitter noted.

Shop Module builds on developments in another feature introduced earlier this year, according to the social media company.

This other feature – called Professional Profiles – allows businesses, nonprofits, publishers and creators to display specific information about their business directly on their profile.

Twitter’s interest in building new features for businesses falls in line with an increasing appetite for online shopping since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Social commerce sales in the US can increase by 36 per cent to $36.62 billion in 2021, said a recent report by subscription-based market-research company eMarketer.

Facebook is the top social commerce platform in the US, said the report. A fifth of the country’s internet users, or 56.1 million people of ages 14 and older, will make at least one purchase from the social media platform, according to an estimate by the report.

About 13 per cent of internet users, or 32.4 million people, could make a purchase using Facebook-owned Instagram.