Twitter is gearing up for the eCommerce world. The social media giant, which has 290 million users across the world, has launched a beta version of ‘Twitter shops’.
This feature is not yet available in India but it’s worth staying updated on. With the increasing demand in the online business space, this feature may be the next milestone in social commerce for online business owners. Here’s what you need to know about it.
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What is Twitter shop?
Twitter shop, also called shop spotlight, is a dedicated space at the top of a profile where business owners can showcase a collection of up to 50 products to shoppers on Twitter. This will let your Twitter audience view products from your brand.
You can enable a “view shop” button on their profile and add products along with descriptions, images, and price. When a user clicks on it, they can open up your shop, where they can scroll through the items.
Customers will be led to an in-app browser (similar to the one on Instagram), where they can learn more about the product and complete the checkout on your online store. This means that user do not have to leave the app and can have a seamless shopping experience on Twitter.
Earlier this year, Twitter had launched ‘shop spotlight‘, which allows merchants to showcase only five products directly on their profile.
Twitter is experimenting to find out how their audience responds to products and know their preferences. In one of their blogs, here’s what Twitter says about the new eCommerce feature:
“With this pilot, we’ll get to explore how our audience reacts to products that are emotionally charged — like a new jersey from your favorite sports team — or that provide lasting impact — like a new skincare regimen. And, fundamentally, it’ll give us the chance to keep learning about which shopping experiences people prefer on Twitter. “
As of now, this feature is at its preliminary stage. And only a few brands are involved in the testing process. But, Twitter has already emphasised the benefits of the feature for online businesses.
How can eCommerce businesses benefit from Twitter?
Before you start marketing on Twitter, find out if your target audience is active on the platform or if there’s potential to build a community around your brand.
Twitter themselves describes their audience as “engaged responsive, and chatty” This means that unlike other social platforms, Twitter is driven by conversations and not visuals or other form of interactive content.
So, the key to growing your business on Twitter starts with creating an engaging brand around conversations. Bring the power of conversations around your product on Twitter and attract your target audience.
Related Read: How to grow your business with social commerce
Another Twitter feature which you can use for your business is the Professional Profiles, which is similar to business profile on Instagram. You can use it to display specific information about your business directly on the profile page.
Businesses across the globe – from small businesses and legacy brands to creator-founded businesses – will have access to customised profiles, which will help drive engagement and business outcomes.
Now that you know how you can use Twitter for commerce, you can be ready once the features roll out!
How do brands sell on Twitter?
You’ve read about the future of commerce on Twitter. Here’s how businesses sell on Twitter in the present:
1. By promoting newsletters
As we discussed earlier, Twitter is a conversational platform, where people value information relevant to their interests. So, businesses leverage this to build their email list and promote newsletters. Here’s how:
- Conducting Q&A sessions
- Tweeting about latest niche-related topics and news
- Interacting regularly with mentions and retweets
- Prompting audience to sign up for a newsletter to get more content
- Email marketing
Related Read: How to measure social media success for your small business
2. Payment links
Another common way brands sell their products on Twitter is by using payment links. When they tweet about a product, they’ll also include a link which leads them to a payment portal. With Instamojo payment link, the customer will have the option to choose from a payment method of their choice.
Sell on Twitter with your own eCommerce website
When Twitter shops launch in India, you can sell easily on the social media platform with your own online store. To make selling on Twitter easier and capture leads, check out Instamojo store features. It allows you to sell anywhere on the internet – including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and more.
The Instamojo online store comes with:
- Beautiful themes to complement your business and brand
- Integrated shipping, payments, inventory management, analytics and more
- Marketing tools like chatbots, store pop-ups, discount engines etc
- Powerful analytics to help you make data-backed business decisions
And much more! Premium store plans start just @₹10/day – which is as much as a cost of a masala chai! It’s also super simple to set up.
Here’s a video on how to create your own premium Instamojo online store:
Should you explore Twitter for your eCommerce business?
Twitter is an unconventional social media option for small business owners. It’s topical, there’s hot debates on the channel but there are also brands being built on this social media. The new eCommerce features on Twitter will easily address the needs of businesses of any size — big or small.
Is your online business on Twitter already? If not, you should consider getting a Twitter account and start building your audience!
Stay tuned for more updates on the Twitter shop and how you can grow your business on Twitter.
To make the most out of Twitter shops, or any other form of social commerce for that matter, an online store is essential. Check out the Instamojo online store builder and create an online store for your brand in a few simple steps. Check out the video below:
