Twitter: the real-time, 140-character social media platform misunderstood by some and overused by others, is now engaging users directly through e-commerce. Facebook and Pinterest have already done so, and now Twitter’s allowing users to purchase items with the click of a button.
Image by Twitter via twitter.com
What is a “buy” button? Twitter and its payment service partner Stripe are beta testing the ability to buy things instantly among select users and merchants. Companies such as The Home Depot, Burberry, (RED) Campaign, and even musicians, are offering unique products for purchase during this initial testing period. After past attempts at incorporating ecommerce into Twitter (remember the hashtag #AmazonCart?), this new button didn’t appear overnight; it has been in the works for months.
What makes it unique? Not only does it allow you to buy something instantly (saving your personal information securely so you never have to enter it again), it also allows you to do so through the Twitter app. This prevents Twitter from losing users to external sites. The items are offered for a limited time and are sold exclusively on Twitter, creating a buy-right-now-before-it’s-gone urgency. What sets this idea apart from Facebook or Pinterests “buy” button is the fact that it’s all in “real-time”. This fear of missing the deal if it’s not purchased instantly is anticipated to create such urgency that people will be compelled to click. Since you can’t “boost” a tweet or keep repinning, if the moment passes and you didn’t buy, you have missed out.
This will likely benefit non-profits and small businesses reaching people outside of their normal communication channels. According to a study by Twitter, 72% of Twitter users following a small business said they would likely buy that company’s product.
Will it work? One of the best examples of people who will click “buy” are those who live-tweet during shows or games. Do you watch Scandal? If you are tweeting that you “must have a glass of red wine a la Olivia Pope” while you watch the show, and all of a sudden Crate&Barrel pops up with the “buy” button for the exact wine glasses Olivia is drinking from, wouldn’t you instantly buy it? Yes! What if you were a Washington Nationals fan watching a killer game against a huge rival? As you tweet that Jordan Zimmermann is pitching the best game of his career, a limited edition baseball signed by Zimmermann pops up as the next tweet on your feed—think you would buy it? Of course. This is all about capturing impulsive, real-time tweeters who know the necessity of a split-second decision. It’s no longer “retweet”, it’s “buy”.
We are a world connected to our mobile devices and the instant satisfaction of posting photos, texting friends, and purchasing items by the click of a button. Twitter is now tapping into these tendencies (no pun intended), making its next calculated move for our ever-digitalizing world, and I think it will work.
