Over the past year, three social media giants – Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest – have been experimenting with “Buy” buttons on their websites as a new source of revenue from their large audiences.
Twitter began testing their Buy button in September with a small group of artists, brands, and non-profits, and they are now rumored to be teaming up with Shopify, which currently has about 100,000 merchants using its software, and other e-commerce software companies to expand to a much wider range of businesses.
This button allows users to discover products and make purchases with just a few clicks. After clicking the Buy button, you’ll be presented with product details and a form to enter your shipping and payment information. Once your information is entered and confirmed, it’s sent to the merchant for delivery.
The website will take the necessary measures to safely encrypt and store your information, and they will not share your credit card information with the merchant without your permission. After your first purchase, you do not have to reenter your information every time you decide to make a purchase, unless you choose to delete it from your account, which you can do at any time.
Twitter explains the new feature in a blog post:
Users will get access to offers and merchandise they can’t get anywhere else and can act on them right in the Twitter apps for Android and iOS; sellers will gain a new way to turn the direct relationship they build with their followers into sales.
Some large accounts are making collections, or product pages, which Twitter launched in June, that allow you to see the products that they like. The website is currently trying to figure out ways to discover products for sale more easily, according to a source, so that you don’t have to wait for them to come across your timeline.