Twitter has served as a marketing and customer service channel by small businesses for years. Now merchants can use it to promote ecommerce, thanks to a third-party platform called Chirpify and Twitter's own efforts to open its advertising platform to small companies.
Chirpify, the Twitter Commerce Platform
Chirpify, which first launched in 2011 under the name Sell Simp.ly turns Tweets into transactions, enabling consumers and businesses to "buy, sell, donate and transact on Twitter."
How Chirpify Works
To utilize the platform, merchants follow a three-step process:
- Login with a Twitter account;
- Connect to PayPal, which is the sole payment platform used by Chirpify to manage transactions;
- Complete a profile and shipping address form.
Chirpify offers three merchant account levels: Basic, Pro and Enterprise. Costs to use the service vary based on the level chosen. At the Basic level, Chirpify charges a flat 4 percent per transaction fee.
The Pro level requires a $49 monthly charge, but the transaction fee is reduced to 2 percent. In terms of features, the only apparent difference is that the Pro level provides access to email tech support where the Basic level does not.
Once registered, merchants need only to Tweet a listing with a product image. Shoppers who wish to purchase the item simply reply to the Tweet with the word "buy." The transaction is processed through PayPal and a receipt with shipping information is sent to the merchant and buyer via email.
Chirpify sets no limits on the number of transactions, regardless of the account level chosen. And, since the only requirement is to use a product image with the Tweet, it doesn't matter where merchants list products.
Use of the platform is not confined to online merchants either. Physical retailers, individuals and even non-profit organizations can also take advantage of its features.
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