Twitter begins testing 'Shops' feature to grow ecommerce
Tweet
Share
E-mail
FILE PHOTO: The Twitter logo is seen at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/
By Sheila Dang
(Reuters) - Twitter Inc will experiment with allowing companies to showcase up to 50 products for sale on their profiles, the company said on Wednesday, part of an effort to gain a piece of the $45 billion U.S. market for so-called social commerce.
Facebook and Instagram, which are owned by Meta Platforms Inc, have been leaders in social commerce, enabling merchants to set up virtual shops and sell products.
The beta test for Twitter Shops will be available for select business in the United States and will be visible to people using the Twitter iPhone app, the company said.
U.S. wireless carrier Verizon, one of the test partners, featured iPhone cases and wireless chargers in its Twitter shop on Wednesday.
After viewing the product on Twitter, users are redirected to the merchant's website for checkout.
The experiment expands on a previous feature Twitter began testing last year allowing brands to showcase up to five products at the top of their Twitter profiles.
The San Francisco-based company is also experimenting with live-streamed shopping, which lets people purchase clothing, accessories and other items while watching live videos from the brand about the products.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; Editing by Howard Goller)
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Corporate News, Hot Corp. News, Reuters, Trader TalkRelated Entities
TwitterSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
