YouTube’s doing it, as is Instagram, as well as Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest too – and now Twitter becomes the latest social media app to dip its toes into live-stream shopping, in the hopes of maximizing eCommerce activity via the immediacy and engagement of retailer broadcasts.
Image Credit: Twitter Blog
As you can see in this example, Twitter’s variation of live-stream shopping will enable users to tune into the live broadcast, with shopping options displayed below the video feed. The presentation, as it currently stands, will enable users to either tune into the live tweet discussion around the event, or check out a ‘Shop’ tab featuring all the products highlighted in the broadcast.
Image Credit: Twitter Blog
The option taps into both the rise of online commerce and the real-time engagement benefits of the platform. And soon, we’ll get our first look at how that works in practice.
As explained by Twitter:
“We are conducting our first test of Live Shopping in collaboration with Walmart, where they will be kicking off Cyber Week with singer, songwriter, dancer and social media superstar Jason Derulo for the first-ever shoppable livestream on Twitter. Starting at 7pm ET on Sunday, November 28, people can watch and shop from @Walmart (on iOS and desktop), where Jason will host a 30-minute variety show highlighting electronics, home goods, apparel, seasonal décor, surprise special guests and much more.”
Walmart has been a keen adopter of the next wave of digital commerce initiatives, already partnering with both TikTok and Snapchat on their various in-stream shopping pushes.
In addition to this, Twitter also notes that it’s expanding the test of its Shop Module with selected merchants in the US, while it’s also looking to roll out improved catalog ingestion and management processes to facilitate the same.
Eventually, these will all tie into the platform’s Professional Profiles, which could provide another avenue for promoting and selling your products in-stream.