Dive Brief:
- Continuing its steady stream of social commerce product releases, Twitter announced Thursday it has expanded its Location Spotlight feature to be made available globally. This is the first spotlight for professionals that is available worldwide, Twitter said in a blog post.
- With the feature, customers can view businesses’ addresses, hours of operation and contact information. The company is integrating Google Maps to let companies add a map of their business location where shoppers can navigate to their location, according to the company blog post.
- The company said it’s launching a “Taking Care of Business” workshop series, which will help professionals understand how the platform’s new features can support their businesses. It is also introducing 10 on-demand courses where entrepreneurs can learn how to use Twitter to drive growth.
Dive Insight:
With the launch of new features, Twitter is trying to cater to small and mid-sized businesses. The platform is introducing Professional Home, a hub within Twitter for professionals that will soon be available internationally in the coming weeks, the company said in its announcement. In addition to Professional Home, the company is testing additional profile spotlights to reach and convert new customers.
“Professionals – whether they are creators, nonprofits, developers, small business owners, or big brands – come to Twitter every day to drive results that can move their business forward,” James Kelm, vice president of product management at Twitter and John Stokvis, senior product manager at Twitter, said in a statement. “For the past year, we’ve been developing a collection of foundational, free-to-use products that give this community the tools they need to customize and strengthen their business presence and showcase their products to customers directly on Twitter.”
Twitter has continued to add more shopping features over the past year. In July 2021, the platform began testing its Shop Module, which shows businesses’ available products to customers browsing the app. In March, the company began piloting its Twitter shops tool, which allowed entrepreneurs to showcase up to 50 items to customers on the app.
As it tests new social shopping features, the platform has also tapped various brands and retailers to help it try out new advertising and product release features. In April, the platform enlisted New Balance, Bose and Lexus to try its Product Explorer and Collection Ads tools. The company released its Product Drops feature in June, letting customers know when merchants introduce new products.
Twitter is trying to transform itself into a social shopping platform as its social media competitors introduced more e-commerce features and the overall social commerce market is predicted to grow. An Accenture report released earlier this year predicted that the worldwide social commerce market will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025. Meanwhile, hello platforms, including Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok have introduced new tools to help consumers find and shop with brands on their platform.
