Twitter isn’t just thinking of monetisation through digital marketing, it has its eye on e-commerce payments. The microblogging service has embarked on a new social commerce experiment with American Express that turns Twitter hashtags into purchases.
The move is an interesting new departure for Twitter, which until now had been on a route to revenue mostly through online advertising and via sponsored tweets and promoted trends.
If it works it could see Twitter secure an even more concrete revenue base as a location for unlocking deals and making transactions.
American Express has developed a new sync service that allows American Express cardholders to sync their cards with Twitter to purchase products and access content, offers and more.
Card Sync first launched on Twitter last March to deliver couponless savings to cardholders who tweet special offer #hashtags from merchants.
As part of the latest deal with Twitter, a special US$25 American Express gift card has been developed.
Online vendors Amazon, Sony, Urban Zen and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 have come on board as retail partners.
“Based on the initial success of Amex Sync for offers, we know there is significant power in combining our assets with Twitter’s platform to bring value to card members and merchants,” said Leslie Berland, senior vice-president, Digital Partnerships and Development at American Express.
“Now, we’re leveraging our unique technology and closed-loop network to introduce a seamless solution that redefines what’s possible in the world of social commerce,” Berland said.
Twitter bird image via Shutterstock
