The tech giant has begun testing a new feature that allows businesses to add a shopping section to the top of their profiles, i.e social commerce. The tech giant is following the trail of other popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Pinterest who have also used new features to turn their services into shopping destinations.
Twitter who had previously experimented with embedding a “Buy” button directly into tweets (it officially dropped the feature in 2017) stated on Wednesday that the “Shopping Module” has begun a trial phase by few brands in the US.
According to Goldbird product lead Bruce Falck “We’re back and putting more energy into testing out the potential for shopping on Twitter. Though we are in very early explorations, we’re excited about the potential of shopping on Twitter and eager to learn more as we go."
The Shop Module launches in the US today and offers a carousel of products for visitors to browse. Tapping a product will link to a listing with the option of making a purchase without ever leaving Twitter. The pilot is currently limited to iOS devices for people who use the service in English, Twitter says.
“People talk about products on Twitter every day, so we’re excited about how this early exploration of the Shop Module can build a bridge between people talking about and discovering products on Twitter to actually purchasing them,” Twitter says. The pilot is only available with a small number of brands for now, including GameStop, Arden Cove, and around ten others. Twitter did not reveal a timeline for when it might expand to more brands.
The Shop Module pilot comes as Twitter is exploring ways of making money beyond showing ads. In this year alone, Twitter has announced a paid subscription service with access to premium features, as well as plans to let users charge for access to exclusive content, and a Tip Jar feature for one-off payments.
 "Dubai Submerged In Flood")