Dive Brief:
- Twitter is working with Shopify to bring “Buy” buttons to the more than 100,000 retailers that use its software to manage their online storefronts.
- Deployment of a Twitter “Buy” button will allow retailers large and small to sell products directly from their tweets.
- Twitter has long struggled to monetize its microblog platform, and also introduced product pages to aid product discovery earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
The development of a killer “Buy” button continues at the big social networks, with Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and this week, Instagram, racing to bring a clickable call-to-action to every retailer looking to eliminate steps in the conversion funnel and boost sales. Each has partnered with shopping platforms such as Shopify and Demandware to ease retailer integration.
Only Facebook and Twitter have tested “Buy” buttons that function without leaving the base app so far, and both are now working with Shopify’s huge client base to bring "Buy" buttons to more and smaller retailers. Image-centric Pinterest and Instagram “Buy” buttons offer an edge in product discovery, but force users to leave the app to purchase, adding a step to conversion—and a possible pain point if the handoff fails.
