Twitter tests 'buy' button for users

It has partnered with Fancy, Gumroad, Musictoday and Stripe as platforms for this initial test

Moving towards e-commerce, Twitter is now testing a "buy" button to help its users discover and buy products on the microblogging site.

"This is an early step in our building functionality into Twitter to make shopping from mobile devices convenient and easy, hopefully even fun," Twitter Group Product Manager Tarun Jain said in a blog.

He added that while users will get access to offers and merchandise that they cannot get anywhere else, sellers will gain a new way to turn the direct relationship they build with their followers into sales.

"We're not building this alone: we've partnered with Fancy (@fancy), Gumroad (@gumroad), Musictoday (@Musictoday) and Stripe (@stripe) as platforms for this initial test, with more partners to follow soon," he said.

The facility, with some tweets from test partners featuring a "Buy" button letting users buy directly from the tweet, will be rolled out for a small percentage of users in the US. This will grow over time, it added.

"In our test, an entire purchase can be completed in just a few taps. After tapping the "Buy" button, you will get additional product details and be prompted to enter your shipping and payment information. Once that's entered and confirmed, your order information is sent to the merchant for delivery," Jain said.

To ensure security, Jain said the payment and shipping information is encrypted and safely stored after the first transaction, so that users can easily buy on Twitter without having to re-enter information again.

"Of course, you can always remove this information from your account. Your credit card is processed securely and won't be shared with the seller without your permission," he said.

Twitter has partnered with artists, brands, and nonprofit organisations like Brad Paisley, Burberry, Eminem, The Home Depot and Pharrell, among others.