Twitter expands 'buy now' buttons

Last year, Twitter started venturing into business by testing the “Buy Now” buttons. Yesterday, it made an official announcement about expanding its “Buy Now” button to retailers in the United States that uses any of the e-commerce platforms BigCommerce, Shopify, or Demandware.

Twitter VP of Commerce Nathan Hubbard stated on the company’s blog post, “As we continue to develop new products and expand the ecosystem of platforms and partners in the social commerce space, we can help even more brands and customers connect on social and mobile.” He continued by saying that through the “Buy Now” feature, businesses will be able to provide consumers with a delightful and hassle-free mobile buying experience.

The huge social network has started integrating Stripe’s Relay earlier last month. The feature is a set of software that let retailers sell products more easily through apps and social networks while making the checkout process done in a breeze. Now, Twitter’s new ecommerce partnerships with BigCommerce, Demandware and Shopify will be fuelled by Stripe Relay.

With the expansion of “Buy Now” buttons, a Twitter user can make a purchase in just two taps. First, tap the “buy” button then confirm the purchase. However, first time consumers will have to go through a screen to provide payment and address details.

Twitter, Inc., with 316 million users worldwide, is the first big social network to make the technology widely available to numerous merchants. Hubbard said it would take time before consumers will be able to see more of the “Buy Now” buttons on the service. However, he claims half of the existing users already utilise the service.

Facebook and YouTube are also into testing the buying buttons. On Tuesday, YouTube announced that businesses may already place buy buttons on other people’s videos which feature the business’ brand, according to the New York Times .