Twitter is testing a buy button with a small percentage of US users, allowing them to add purchase details to the service, and buy products from a select list of brands.
Shopping via Twitter has been rumored for some time, and now it has officially announced its test of the product.
Twitter says its idea is to make shopping with mobile devices convenient and easy, ‘hopefully even fun.’ When you see something you want to buy in your Twitter feed, you tap Buy, and are shown a page with additional details, where you can enter your payment and shipping address. These details are saved and encrypted so that you don’t need to re-enter them for future purchases. Twitter says you can remove your payment details whenever you want.
The test starts with a list of artists, brands, and nonprofit organizations including RED, Eminem, and The Home Depot.
This move is likely to upset many long term Twitter users, already upset at the continuing commercialization of the Twitter feed. Shopping is an option for Twitter, but it’s very different to the conversation and information exchange that defined the service in its earlier years. For users that love to follow brands and artists, however, a Twitter buy button could be very welcome.
Source: Twitter
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