Twitter is jumping on the social commerce bandwagon by launching a live shopping feature. Retail giant Walmart, which has held more than 15 shoppable livestreams since its first on TikTok last December – will be the first to test Twitter’s new functionality.

Walmart is planning a livestreamed shopping event on Twitter to kick off Cyber Week. (photo courtesy of Walmart)

On Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. EST, Walmart will broadcast a half-hour variety show led by musician Jason Derulo and filmed at his Los Angeles house. Among the product offerings being promoted will be electronics, home goods, apparel and seasonal décor. There will also be surprise guests featured, according to Walmart.

“Twitter continues to be an important platform for Walmart’s business and our customers,” William White, chief marketing officer at Walmart, said in a statement. “We’ve been focused on charting new territory in shoppable livestreams and are excited to celebrate an important milestone together with the first Livestream Shopping event on Twitter.”

White adds that it’s all about “meeting customers where they are” and bringing them “dynamic, interactive experiences.”

Twitter is testing livestreamed shopping, a feature that other social apps like TikTok and YouTube have already leveraged. (photo courtesy of Twitter)

While watching a Live Shopping stream on Twitter, a user can take several actions, according to Twitter. Those include checking the shop tab and shoppable banner on the live event’s page, toggling between the latest tab and shop tab during the livestream so they can remain part of the conversation while checking out products, and continuing to watch the livestream on the merchant’s website within an in-app browser.

In addition to testing out livestreamed shopping, Twitter plans to expand shopping capabilities for merchants on the site, with the introduction of the shopping manager. The tool will be a one-stop shop for managing how merchants show up on the app, according to Twitter.

Social commerce sales in the U.S. are expected to grow by 34.8% – to $36 billion – this year, up from $26.7 billion in 2020 and $19.2 billion in 2019, according to a report by eMarketer. Though it currently represents just 4.3% of all online shopping, that impressive annual growth underlines just how quickly social media is eating into the e-commerce pie. Though in-person shopping and events have been bouncing back after pandemic-related shutdowns, social commerce continues to grow as shoppers become more comfortable with in-app transactions. It’s a development that promotional products pros should keep an eye on, especially as it continues to grow.

Walmart says it plans to hold more than 30 shoppable livestream events this holiday season, launching them across eight social and media platforms, including BuyWith, BuzzFeed, Facebook, IGN, TalkShopLive, Tasty, Twitter and YouTube.