Twitter Tests Direct Shopping From User Accounts: What Investors (And Shoppers) Should Know

If you’ve ever visited Twitter and seen a product you liked, chances are you had to click on a link to go to a different website to make the purchase.

Twitter would like to change that and is testing a new feature which could allow brands to sell directly on the social media platform.

What Happened: Twitter Inc TWTR has launched a pilot of “Shop Module,” a feature that allows shoppable profiles to be created on the platform.

“We’re starting small with a handful of brands in the United States,” Twitter Product Lead Bruce Falck said.

The pilot will be available to U.S. users who use Twitter on iOS devices.

A Merchant Advisory Board will be established with brands who have shown a history of best examples for merch shopping on Twitter.

Related Link: Snap, Twitter Surge On Q2 User Growth, Revenue Beats

Why It’s Important: Twitter began testing a shopping module including a "buy now" button back in 2015, according to Falck. The company stepped back from shopping efforts to focus on other areas.

Twitter is now putting more energy into seeing if shopping on the platform can work and help build engagement with brands.

“We believe in the power of the conversations that Twitter facilitates around products,” Falck said.

The move to add shopping could also help with Twitter’s efforts to boost brand profiles on the platform. The company rolled out professional profiles earlier this year that allowed more customized profiles and new features to drive engagement with followers for brands and top creators on the platform.

Products such as jerseys from a sports team and a new skincare regimen were mentioned by the product lead.

“Stay tuned. We are in the very early explorations, we’re excited about the potential of shopping on Twitter and eager to learn more as we go.”

TWTR Price Action: Twitter shares are up 1.07% to $70.83 on Thursday morning.

Photo: Courtesy of Twitter