Twitter adds shopping catalogue for retailers in commerce push

[SAN FRANCISCO] Twitter will give some businesses a new shopping feature to promote as many as 50 products in a digital catalogue attached to their profile, part of a broader effort by the social network to expand into more shopping and commerce.

The new tool, called Twitter Shops, is only available to a limited set of retailers now. Users who click on the shopping icon from a retailer's page will be directed to a product catalogue. Clicking on a product will send the users off Twitter to the retailer's website to make a purchase.

Twitter has made shopping and commerce a bigger priority in recent months as the company looks to expand into new businesses and generate revenue sources other than digital advertising. In July, Twitter launched a Shop Module so retailers could pin as many as 5 products on their profile page, and over the holidays the company hosted its first live shopping video with Walmart.

The San Francisco-based social media company has tried shopping efforts in the past, including a "buy button" launched in 2014 that never caught on. In the past year, Twitter has looked for more ways to diversify its revenue and recently added a subscription product, called Twitter Blue. BLOOMBERG