Twitter testing product pages

SAN FRANCISCO — Social media network Twitter is testing product and place pages, a new feature that will help drive e-commerce through the platform.

The feature, which is still in a testing phase and is available only to select Twitter users, lets those users group together products and places on dedicated pages.

For example, going to Nike’s profile, users will see a button to “Browse Collection.” Clicking on the button will redirect them to a page Nike curated that features images and video about its LeBron Elite Collection of sportswear, as well as product descriptions, prices and the option to buy products. The pages also will show tweets about the products that are most timely and relevant to the viewer.

The announcement of product and place pages is an extension of the company’s “buy” button on tweets, which started rolling out last fall. “This is an early step in our building functionality into Twitter to make shopping from mobile devices convenient and easy, hopefully even fun,” Twitter said in a blog post at the time.

Friday’s announcement of product and place pages essentially adds a user-curated storefront to Twitter, giving brands a way to reach Twitter users beyond promoted tweets. The move could bolster the social network’s relationship with advertisers, who long have been dissatisfied with the platform’s user engagement and growth levels.

The feature is launching with a short list of partners, including musicians Amanda Palmer, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Steve Aoki, retailers such as Nordstrom, Target and the Disney Store, and other wellknown personalities and brands such as entrepreneur Michelle Phan, Nike and Warner Bros.