Twitter introduces ‘buy’ button for shopaholic social media users

SHOPPING comes to the social network as Twitter users will now be able to buy items, music or donate money at the tap of a button.

Twitter

TWITTER is taking its users shopping.

The short messaging service began testing a “Buy” button Monday that lets some of its users make purchases or donate money to charities without leaving Twitter. Initial partners include mostly music stars such as Eminem, Pharrell and Paramore but there are also retailers including Home Depot and Burberry, plus charities The Nature Conservancy and GLAAD.

After clicking the “Buy” button, users are asked to enter their address and credit card information. The order is then sent to the merchant for delivery. The company said in a blog post that users’ personal information will be encrypted and saved on Twitter so that they can buy things again without re-entering their information.

“Consumers already come to Twitter to find out what’s going on in their world right now, and that includes discovering new products. This initial test of the ‘buy now’ functionality means that with just a few taps, Twitter users will be able to make in-the-moment purchases of the products they want, need and love.

This is the first time users will be able to discover and buy products from within the Twitter experience. While it’s only a limited test in the US for now, we are excited to see the consumer response and will be watching very closely to see how this new feature develops,” said Karen Stocks, managing director, Twitter Australia.

The shopping feature comes as the San Francisco-based company tries to increase its user base and revenue, most of which comes from advertising. It had 271 million average monthly users at the end of June, up 24 per cent from a year earlier.

Facebook, which has more than 1.3 billion users, started testing its own “Buy” button in July.

Twitter’s button is only available now for a “small percentage of U.S. users,” but the company said that will increase.

The shopping button could help Twitter add another source of revenue as the digital advertising market and online shopping grow. Twitter did not offer financial details about its new service and did not respond to a request for comment.