Dive Brief:

• As more social media platforms release e-commerce features, Twitter is piloting the Shop Module, a feature that allows the company to monitor the potential for e-commerce on the site. The Shop Module lets businesses display their products at the top of their Twitter profiles.

• The platform will initially test the feature among U.S. users who access Twitter via iOS devices and with a few unnamed U.S. brands, the company announced on Wednesday. Shoppers can browse businesses' available products, tap the item they're interested in to learn more and buy it within the app. 

• Twitter is also establishing a Merchant Advisory Board made up of various brands that are active on the app to address the needs of business owners on the platform, per the announcement. 

Dive Insight:

As Twitter tries out shopping tools, the platform is catching up with multiple other social apps that are introducing their own e-commerce features, including WhatsApp, TikTok and Facebook.

Before announcing that it's pivoting toward shopping and video this year, Instagram integrated Facebook Pay into Instagram Shop and introduced its Shopping in Reels feature last year. 

The social media giants seem to be responding to consumers' willingness to make purchases via social platforms. 2020 research from Sprout Social found that 75% of social media users said they increased their purchases from brands they follow, a 12% bump from the year prior. Meanwhile, a 2021 study from NPD found that 51% of survey respondents said they bought items thanks to content in their Facebook and Instagram feeds.

Twitter's Shop Module pilot follows the rollout of its Professional Profiles, which the platform introduced earlier this year. After first experimenting with a shopping feature in 2015, the platform is testing out the Shop Module to understand which shopping experiences Twitter users favor.

"With this pilot, we'll get to explore how our engaged, responsive and chatty audience reacts to products that are emotionally charged — like a new jersey from your favorite sports team — or that provide lasting impact — like a new skincare regimen," Bruce Falck, revenue product lead of Twitter, wrote in the announcement.