Twitter (TWTR) Launches Twitter Offers; Eyes e-Commerce

In keeping with the current trend of targeting advertisers on social networking sites, Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) has rolled out a new feature called Twitter Offers dedicated to e-Commerce.

U.S. users will now see a pop up — Twitter Offer — in their feeds, which can be redeemed while shopping online using debit or credit cards. These offers can also be added to their bank cards to be redeemed at brick-and-mortar stores without any extra charges. These offers will not only benefit customers but retailers as well since they are effective promotional tools that do not require any additional software or add-ons to the existing payment system.

While rating companies have dismissed Twitter with their Junk rating (Read More: Twitter Debt Gets Junk Rating: Should You Worry?), we believe that the company is right on track to cash in on the booming e-Commerce business this holiday season. Since retailers at large are seeking newer platforms to expand in the e-Commerce market, Twitter, like Facebook (FB), offers a huge target audience base. Further, innovative products by the company not only simplify online promotion for retailers, but also lower the costs.

According to eMarketer, global business-to-consumer (B2C) e-Commerce sales will increase 20.1% to $1.5 trillion in 2014 and hit $2.4 trillion by 2017, presenting a significant growth opportunity for Twitter. As competition intensifies in the advertising market, we believe that e-Commerce will open up a new revenue source for the social networking site over the long term.

In this regard, the company recently offered the ‘Buy’ option to a few U.S. users, who will be able to purchase goods from merchants directly through tweets. Per Twitter, the Buy button will gradually be rolled-out to other users, which shall help it to become a leading e-Commerce provider over the long run. (Read More: Twitter Tests "BUY" Button, Set to Start e-Commerce Service)

Earlier, the company partnered with Starbucks Corporation (SBUX), American Express and Amazon.com (AMZN) to offer e-Commerce services. We believe that these collaborations will offer Twitter a smooth and secure e-Commerce platform, going forward.

Twitter currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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