The social giant will streamline in-stream purchasing for artists with a new "buy" button.
With its massive level of artist participation and millions of followers incessantly tweeting about music, Twitter has the potential to be a powerful direct-to-fan sales channel when no barriers are in place between a tweet and sales. A diverse group of artists, brands and charities are taking part in the initial rollout of the tool, including Brad Paisley, Eminem, Panic! at the Disco, Wiz Khalifa, Ryan Adams, Soundgarden, Home Depot, Burberry, GLAAD and Global Citizen.
In announcing the "test" on the Twitter blog, the site says users will get access to offers and merchandise unavailable elsewhere, and "can act on them right in the Twitter apps for Android and iOS; sellers will gain a new way to turn the direct relationship they build with their followers into sales." Twitter is partnered with commerce sites Fancy (@fancy), Gumroad (@gumroad), Musictoday (@Musictoday) and Stripe (@stripe) as fulfillment platforms in the initial test, and says more partners will follow.
For example, an artist might tweet an offer for a limited-edition t-shirt exclusively for that artist's followers, and users can buy directly within that tweet, without ever leaving Twitter. Consumers enter their payment info when they sign up, that data is stored securely and can be edited or deleted at any time, and for subsequent purchases "with just a few taps, you've purchased that product and it's on its way to your inbox or front door," Hubbard says.
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/n ... -with-brad
