Twitter users accustomed to following the chatter to keep up with the latest news and happenings in their neck of the woods and the world beyond may soon find themselves visiting the platform to check out things to buy and places to visit.
Twitter recently announced a new foray into the ecommerce arena by kicking off two simultaneous tests meant to help users better identify products and places that might be of interest to them.
The first test involves the creation of product and place pages. These pages make it easier for Twitter users to organize and find tweets that are relevant to products and places they happen to be interested in learning more about.
The pages feature video and images along with descriptions, prices and options to buy. Tweets pulled into pages may include those from accounts users follow, relevant news updates or related content that has been deemed popular on Twitter.
Only a test at this point, the new pages are being built for only a small number of products and places, Twitter reported on its blog.
Even so, users may soon see test pages appearing on their timelines that are shared by those deemed influencers on the platform or particular brands themselves.
While pages are meant to help users more quickly navigate information available on particular products and places, Twitter is also testing another way for consumers to gain purchasing referrals.
The social media site will launch collections designed to enable select “curators” to share their favorite things and places.
Curators, including Demi Lovato, The Ellen Show and Reese Witherspoon, are helping test this concept by pulling together their favorites in lists now available on the platform.
Items included on the lists can be clicked on for delivery to the product pages where pricing and purchase information is made available.
Twitter hasn’t made it clear how long the tests will run or how soon they’ll expand to include more product and places pages and curated lists. It has, however, promised the two tests are “just the beginning.”
Amaryllis Fox, the platform’s product manager, wrote in the blog post that Twitter users can expect to see more testing coming soon on “new experiences we hope give you the most personalized and relevant information about the places and things you want to explore.”
The product tests, Mashable notes, come on the heels of a bit of a slump for the social media platform. Slow growth in users and revenues have caused the company’s shares to fall about 25% in the last three months.
The company has also faced some shakeups in leadership with the resignation of CEO Dick Costolo and the announcement of Jack Dorsey as interim CEO.
Whether the moves into the ecommerce arena will shake up excitement and earnings for Twitter remains to be seen.
