The evidence that Twitter is planning a move into e-commerce is stacking up, after a handful of users noticed a new (and seemingly dormant) setting for “payment and shipping” inside the company’s Android app.
The setting was first highlighted by user @am_Bix, who found the option — which cannot be activated or opened at this point — buried inside the settings menu.
@jonrussell twitter payments and shipping? pic.twitter.com/51NcNxhtmI
— Peter. (@am_Bix) August 5, 2014
He’s not alone. A search shows at least four other Twitter users who took screenshots of the same menu bar, while TNW’s own editor-in-chief Martin Bryant also has the setting in his Android app.
#Twitter adds “Payment & shipping” as a menu option in #AndroidApps, although not functional yet. pic.twitter.com/AzbSwZRjsQ
— Șerban Păun (@SerbanPaun) August 5, 2014
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This is the latest in a stream of hints that Twitter is preparing a foray into commerce. Back in June, Re/Code spotted a “buy now” button that began appearing in tweets with links to retail site Fancy. The same publication previously got its hands on documents that appeared to show commerce plans, while Twitter has been rumored to be working on a deal with payments provider Stripe for some time.
At this point it isn’t entirely clear what Twitter has planned, but the “payment and shipping” option — which appears to be where users would manage their payment methods and enter their delivery address — clearly ties in with other clues.
Twitter is well known for testing tweaks among small batches of users, and it appears to have upped the number of experiments in the past week or so. During that time, we’ve seen evidence that Twitter is suggesting potential new followers inside users’ timelines, and also surfacing tweets that have been favorited by others, in the same way that it handles retweets.
This e-commerce menu is perhaps the most intriguing experiment. It has the potential to increase Twitter’s revenue, and would give brands a new reason to engage on the service.
We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment, and will update this story with any response that we receive.
Headline image via Damien Meyer / AFP / Getty Images
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