The twitterati are awash with excitement about ‘NEW TWITTER’, which is being rolled out as we speak. Although I am not seeing it yet, I have had a sneak look here and I have to say I think it will be a big bonus for online retailers.

This is because the new layout has two columns; the left hand side remains the normal Twitter stream (but prettier and with extra functionality) and the right hand side is now a details pane that will show extended information about the author or subject of a tweet you click on. This is a bonus as it will also show any imagery, photos or video that is attached or embedded in a tweet without the reader having to click on a link and visit a 3rd party site, such as Flickr or YouTube.

This new details pane will allow retailers to share great images and videos of products in a fashion that does not require visitors to click away from their twitter stream. This can only enhance the levels of engagement as we all know that if customers see gorgeous product images and video they are much more likely to buy.

You may think “I am not on Twitter so this won’t affect me”, however if you have great images and videos of your products placed on 3rd party websites, such as YouTube and Flickr, then the new Twitter layout will allow your prospects and customers to share visual information about your products with greater ease and therefore to a wider audience.

This is just another reason why having top quality, visual assets, such as product images and video is so important. Many purchase decisions are emotional and there is nothing better than imagery to provoke a positive response. With social media becoming more and more visual (not to mention the recent advanced google search options), retailers who fail to underpin their online strategy with strong, shareable digital assets will fall behind those who do.