Seven months ago, Twitter announced that it wanted to add some commerce-based options to its platform.
However, what would that platform be used to sell? While the band Slayer and some other companies used the new feature for their own profit, it wasn't clear until a sports team used the platform to sell tickets that we really got a good look at the interface.
"The NBA's Atlanta Hawks are tapping into the potential demand, announcing today that they're selling a limited number of tickets to Wednesday's playoff game against the Brooklyn Nets directly from a tweet," reports Re/Code.
The Hawks posted a tweet saying that "we just posted a limited number of Game 2 tickets available for $45. Get them exclusively on Twitter." The Hawks then attached an ecommerce interface to the tweet, which let users input payment information without having to leave the site.
But why is this important?
"The move points toward one area of e-commerce where Twitter could break through. Loyal sports fans use Twitter regularly to get news about their favorite teams and read live commentary during big games. Those characteristics could make Twitter a go-to distribution channel for last-minute ticket offers just like the Hawks promotion, as well as giving teams an alternative to working with ticketing middlemen."
Does Twitter make any profit off of these transactions?
Re/Code asked Twitter, and the social media's spokesman was unwilling to comment. However, someone who works on the inside of Twitter told Re/Code that "it currently doesn't take a cut of ticket sales, though it seems plausible it could in the future."
The ecommerce interface was created by Twitter startup Flightly.
