It’s no secret that social media companies, Facebook and Twitter, have been trying to intermingle social networking and e-commerce for years. In 2013, Twitter signed a partnership with American Express which allowed users to purchase products directly on the social network. A few months later, they launched the “Tweet a Coffee” project in partnership with Starbucks, allowing customers to buy a coffee for a friend via tweet. For one reason or another, the Tweet-a-coffee beta ended spring of this year.

Facebook had their own go at gift giving when they launched a feature called “Gifts” two years ago. Mirroring the same strategy, “Gifts” allowed users to send each other gift cards and other miscellaneous products via Facebook. But, the physical gift-giving service from a company called Karma was shut down after less than a year.

At last, after many failed attempts, it looks like the two major social media players are finally starting to gain some footing in the e-commerce realm. Twitter rolled out product pages and buy buttons and Facebook announced click-to-buy buttons powered by Shopify. Meanwhile, Pinterest and Instagram- almost simultaneously, announced “buyable pin” buttons and “Shop Now” buttons.

In this week’s podcast, we discuss the various new social commerce features launched this month and how we expect them to unfold over the next coming months- make sure to tune in!

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