Twitter is reportedly close to inking a deal with online payments startup Stripe to allow its army of users to make purchases directly through the microblogging site.
An unnamed individual “familiar with the matter” told news site Re/code that the deal is close to completion and would give brands and retailers an opportunity to sell their goods directly through the social media site, with Twitter users able to make purchases by credit card using Stripe’s integrated payment tools.
A deal with San Francisco-based Stripe would be a big step forward for the short-messaging service, with the expectation that if companies know they can follow up a Twitter-based marketing campaign with potential sales right off the bat, then they’ll be far more likely to cough up ad dollars for the social media site.
And Twitter should, of course, get a cut of any sales made through its service.
If the company goes ahead with the e-commerce initiative, it’d mark the first major deal in this area since hiring former Ticketmaster boss Nathan Hubbard as its new head of commerce last summer.
While a number of third-party outfits have been offering tweet-to-pay options for some time now, Twitter has apparently chosen to proceed more cautiously with such a service.
Indeed, Re/code points out how, up to now, the social media company “has never fully embraced the commerce side of its business”, ditching several related projects over the years . However, now that it has shareholders to answer to following its IPO in November, Twitter is more than ever looking at ways to move into the black.
Last year it appeared to show more interest in the idea of tweet-to-pay functionality when it partnered with American Express to allow users to make purchases among a limited number of items by tweeting a special hashtag.
Twitter and Stripe have until now made no comment on the news of a possible tie-up, but if anything is announced we’ll keep you posted.
