​Can Twitter's "buy" button get people to open their wallets?

If Twitter (TWTR) is successful with its new e-commerce button, consumers might blame their impulse buys on something a little bird told them.

The social media service said Monday it's testing "a new way for you to discover and buy products on Twitter." Some of its 271 million users will see tweets from its test partners with a blue "buy now" button. Clicking on the button will allow the user to directly purchase an item from the tweet.

Like its 180-character messages, the service is starting out small, tapping a handful partners to test the buy button. Only two corporate brands, Home Depot (HD) and Burberry, are taking part of the initial test group, while the remaining partners are either musicians such as Pharrell or nonprofits such as The Nature Conservancy.

"They're examples of partners that have done really innovative things on the platform," Nathan Hubbard, head of commerce at Twitter, told Advertising Age about the selection of partners. "Artists have a broader history of having a direct relationship with consumers. They know how to do it."

Twitter's e-commerce push comes as investors are looking for it to show revenue growth, and eventually profits. The San Francisco company lifted some concerns in July when it reported second-quarter revenue more than doubled to $312.2 million, with most of that stemming from a jump in advertising sales.

Twitter has tried to make e-commerce inroads before, such as its effort with Amazon.com to connect Twitter accounts to the giant Internet retailer. That effort requires Twitter users to reply to a tweet with an Amazon.com link to add an item to their Amazon cart.

The new "buy" button operates much more simply, with Twitter users clicking on a "buy now" button and entering their payment card and shipping information. If that's already on file, Twitter users can just click to check out.

While that may sound simple, Twitter is entering an increasingly crowded e-commerce market, including entries from other social-media firms. Facebook (FB), for instance, in July debuted a similar feature.

Still, it's unclear whether social networking firms can entice users to shop. A recent Gallup poll found that social media services had "no influence at all" on the purchasing decisions of almost two-thirds of Americans. Only 5 percent of respondents said social media exerted "a great deal of influence" on purchasing decisions.

As it stands now, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites are mostly viewed as a way to connect with family and friends, as well as to share knowledge. Social media has also proven to be an effective way for brands to connect directly with customers, such as Maker's Mark using Twitter to let its imbibers know that it would back off a plan to lower its alcohol content.

But who knows? If Maker's Mark had also added a "buy now" button on those tweets, it very well may have sold a few extra bottles to Twitter users who would have lifted a glass in celebration.