Twitter Tests E-Commerce-Embedded Tweets

Need to Know

• The social media company is experimenting with tweets that will display a “Shop” button and integrate product details directly into the tweet.
• Twitter says the new tools are for organic use, though they could work as ads in the future.
• The roll-out of Twitter’s new e-commerce feature comes days after it launched a “Super Follower” subscription tier, allowing users access to subscriber-only perks.

Analysis

As social selling continues to rise in popularity, Twitter appears to be experimenting with a new function that will allow users to shop directly from tweets.

The new tool, which was spotted by a Qatar-based social media consultant this week and later confirmed by Twitter, will allow shops and vendors with Twitter accounts to display product details — such as the product name and price — directly into a tweet, alongside a highly visible “Shop” button. Twitter confirmed to Techcrunch that, while the new shoppable functionality could work in ads or sponsored tweets, the tool is meant for organic tweets.

During Twitter’s Investment Day last week, the company’s revenue lead, Bruce Falck, alluded to upcoming e-commerce tools from the social media company.

“We know people come to Twitter to interact with brands and discuss their favorite products. In fact, you may have even noticed some businesses already developing creative ways to enable sales on our platform,” he said at the event. “This demand gives us confidence in the power of combining real-time conversation with an engaged and intentional audience. Imagine easily discovering, and quickly purchasing, a new skincare product or trendy sneaker from a brand you follow with only a few clicks.”

The launch of Twitter’s shopping cards comes just days after the site announced a “Super Follower” feature, which gives users access to special subscriber-only perks when they super-follow a user. The new shopping tool could be leveraged as part of this new capacity, by content creators offering products to their super followers, through shoppable tweets.

Twitter’s new shoppable tweets come as social media companies such as Facebook and Instagram (which Facebook owns), as well as YouTube and TikTok are refining their e-comm capabilities. Most recently, Facebook launched Facebook Shop, which allows users to make purchases directly from within the app; Instagram expanded its already-robust shopping functionality to IGTV and Reels in October of last year. TikTok, meanwhile, experimented with livestream shopping as part of its ongoing partnership with Walmart in December, and expanded its partnership with Shopify — which allows Shopify merchants to integrate TikTok into their marketing campaigns — in February of this year.