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Twitter plans move into e-commerce

Saqib Shah
February 3, 2014

Twitter is planning an online retail venture to  be known as Twitter Commerce.

According to leaked documents obtained by technology blog Re/code, the e-commerce service is a joint venture between Twitter and US e-commerce site Fancy, a company that counts Twitter founder Jack Dorsey as an investor and board member.

Twitter Commerce will allow users to make a purchase from tweets with pictures of products by clicking a button that states ‘buy with Fancy’.

The push by twitter into e-commerce follows similar initiatives by the company, such as its ‘pay by tweet’ method that was launched last year in partnership with American Express.

It also comes in the aftermath of Facebook’s failed attempt at online retail, a spinoff entitled Gifts that allowed users to buy physical products from the site, which was scrapped last year.

Twitter’s decision to utilise e-commerce comes ahead of its first set of financial results as a financial company on Wednesday. Analysts predict that the company, which has seen rising losses over the past year, aims to capitalise on the mobile market in order to generate more revenue.

Source: The Telegraph

About the Author

Saqib Shah

Tech/gaming journalist for What Mobile magazine and website. Interests include film, digital media and foreign affairs.

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