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Social media network Twitter Inc. may be on the verge of enabling full-fledged commerce, and payments, for the more than 230 million monthly active users of the service, according to a report on Re/code, a technology news site.
In it, Re/code says Twitter is nearing a deal with Stripe, an online payment services provider, to enable credit and debit card acceptance to Twitter users. The Re/code article says a deal between the two is near. Details are scant, according to the report, leaving unanswered how such a scheme might work and what Twitter users might be able to purchase. Neither Twitter nor Stripe responded to Digital Transactions News inquiries.
This would not be the first time commerce has been enabled on Twitter. In 2013, social-media payments specialist Chirpify introduced a service that lets marketers promote hashtags on a wide variety of media to solicit purchases. The so-called action tags can appear on TV or radio commercials, in print advertising, or on billboards and then be used on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, the Portland, Ore., company says.
With the new service, a company promoting a product or service can advertise a short hashtag, called a “campaign tag,” that is linked to the product. Chirpify tags can be used on Instagram and Facebook, too. Consumers link their payment information, including credit and debit cards, a bank or PayPal account, to their social media profiles to make a payment.
It makes some sense for Twitter to make another social commerce foray, says Chris Teso, Chirpify chief executive and founder. If so, it will not pose a threat to Chirpify, Teso says. “We used to be solely on Twitter,” Teso says. Chirpify also can be used more broadly on other media outlets, such as television or on displays in entertainment venues, he says. “Where it doesn’t threaten us is we allow brands to activate action tags for transactions wherever they’d like,” he says. “That’s a much broader offering than just putting a Buy button on Twitter.”
For example, beginning Sunday Oreo cookies will use a Chirpify action tag to entice consumers to request samples of new flavors when its commercials air during the Grammys award show. “This is our first activated TV spot,” Teso says. “It’s proving we’re connecting the dots between TV and social.”
Retailers and brands want consumers to use their social media profiles because they can contain a wealth of information that a credit or debit card number alone cannot provide, Teso says. “Social data overlaid on top of the payment data is what we can deliver.”
And, analyst Adil Moussa, principal Adil Consulting, Omaha, Neb., says it makes sense for Twitter to try to capture some of that revenue.
“If the deal happens, it will expand the possibilities for Twitter to substantially increase its revenues,” Moussa says. “It will also open opportunities for impulse buying, especially for low-priced items that can turn viral due to the nature of Twitter. A percentage of the sale will be another big source of revenue for Twitter instead of relying on advertising only.”
