Twitter has expanded into ecommerce a new ‘buy’ option that will appear alongside a brand’s tweet.
The service will be initially launched as a test with a “small percentage of US users” and a limited number of commercial partners.
The first time a user clicks the “buy” button, they will be prompted to enter payment and shipping information. Subsequently all they have to do is confirm the purchase and that product will be sent, all without leaving the Twitter app or platform.
The first items to be sold via the button are likely to be time-limited, such as event tickets or other limited edition goods.
A number of retailers including Burberry and The Home Depot are trialling the feature, as are a range of musicians including The New Pornographers and Megadeth.
Twitter says that more artists and brands will be signing-up “soon”.
Twitter’s Tarun Jain said in a blog post: “This is an early step in our building functionality into Twitter to make shopping from mobile devices convenient and easy, hopefully even fun.
“Users will get access to offers and merchandise they can’t get anywhere else and can act on them right in the Twitter apps for Android and iOS; sellers will gain a new way to turn the direct relationship they build with their followers into sales.”
Watch this video from Twitter explaining how the service works below: