Twitter, in partnership with payments startup company Stripe, will now be allowing anyone to sell things through tweets through the social network's buy buttons.
The feature being expanded to all Twitter users is made possible by the launch of Stripe's new tools named Relay, which will make it easier for users to sell things on third-party apps that support Stripe, including Twitter.
Stripe has been powering the buy buttons on Twitter since the feature was launched last year. The release of Relay signals a significant expansion for their service, as the feature has been extended to anyone that would want to use it.
"Relay makes it easier for developers to build great mobile e-commerce experiences, and for stores to participate in them," Stripe wrote in a post on its official blog announcing the release of Relay.
Twitter is hoping that its partnership with Stripe will ease its entry into the e-commerce industry and lead to revenues through the buy buttons posted on the network. Through these buttons, users can decide to purchase a product that they see on Twitter by entering their payment and shipping information, all without needing to leave the Twitter platform.
Twitter is looking to remedy its struggles in expanding its user base, as back in July, the company said that the growth of average monthly users was at its slowest since Twitter went public back in 2013.
"Almost two-thirds of our users say they bought something specifically because of what they saw on Twitter. ... As mobile and social (media) continue to grow, consumers are going to discover and transact right in the apps where they spend their time every day," said Twitter head of commerce Nathan Hubbard.
The helpfulness of Relay is not limited to Twitter, however, as developers would be able to use the tools to streamline in-app purchases. Previously, developers would need to forward users to a separate app or to a website to complete requested transactions in apps. With Relay, transactions can be carried out within the app, which makes it easier for users.
Stripe, which currently carries a value of $5 billion, enables payments for several other startups in Silicon Valley such as Lyft, Postmates, TaskRabbit and InstaCart.
Stripe also has an existing partnership with Facebook and Pinterest over buy buttons used on their respective websites. However, both companies were not involved in the launch of Relay.
