Twitter is known for testing new features on a regular basis, many of which have failed to live on after the initial testing period. However, the micro-social network is planning to bring something new to the table that might just stick for the foreseeable future if it is accepted by users.
On Monday, Sept. 8, Twitter began testing a buy button that allows its users to purchase items or send money to charities without ever leaving the website. After clicking on the "buy button," users are asked to enter their credit card information along with their home address. Once done, the information is then sent to the merchant for delivery.
"Today we are beginning to test a new way for you to discover and buy products on Twitter. For a small percentage of U.S. users (that will grow over time), some Tweets from our test partners will feature a 'Buy' button, letting you buy directly from the Tweet," stated Twitter via its blog.
According to Twitter in a blog post, user's personal information will be encrypted, so it shouldn't be easy for hackers to walk in and collect whatever they need. Furthermore, this same personal information will be saved on Twitter, so users won't have to enter their information again should they wish to purchase another item.
This new shopping feature from Twitter should come as no surprise, as the company has been making moves to increase its user-base, and revenues. At the end of June this year, Twitter reported that it has accumulated over 271 million monthly users, which is a 24 percent increase from the year before. Furthermore, the majority of Twitter's revenue comes from advertising, so adding a buy button could go a long way to increase revenues.
At the moment, Twitter's buy button is only available for a small percentage of U.S.-based users, but should expand if it turns out to be a success in this controlled area.
Twitter isn't the only social network to add a buy button; Facebook did this back in June, though we are not certain if this move is paying off for the social network. We might get an idea at the end of the quarter, which would allow us to come up with an analysis on whether or not this buy button plan could work wonders for Twitter, a social network that is far from the 1.3 billion users Facebook is boasting right now.
