The 27 varieties of tweets used by retailers

You can use Twitter simply to promote products (best seen via the Twitter account operated by one-product a day business Woot), and to extend and improve the customer service channel. But what else is there? You’d be surprised at the sheer variety of tweets used by retailers. Some of these are covered under the broad umbrellas of 'sales' or 'service' but the detail shows the scope of what can be tweeted about.

1. Time-limited offers (@threadless): Happy 9/9/09! ALL THREADLESS TEES ARE $9! No joke! (Pls RT for the chance to win a $99 gift code) http://thrdl.es
2. Announcing free shipping for returns (@asos): You wanted free returns, we've listened & guess what? There's now FREE RETURNS for UK customers http://bit.ly/YDgT1 Who's happy?!! Xx
3. Helping people to buy design classics (@conran_shop): UK Sale now on: 20% off Design Classics like the Noguchi and Eames Eiffel DSR in all colours: http://twitclicks.com/4typ
4. Driving awareness of other social media profiles (@playcom): FREE Jamie. T gig in London tonight - Play.com are giving away tix - go to www.facebook.com/playcom to enter - but before 3pm!
5. Retweeting shopper testimonials (@firebox): RT @drlawson: @firebox I've never been so excited by a pepper mill before.One day after ordering! Sweeties too!Yey. http://twitgoo.com/2uqlj
6. Promoting ‘pick of the week’ products (@officeshoes): This weeks 'Hot Pick' is Something Risque - Skyscraper platform heels from Office shoes - http://bit.ly/4JyxJ
7. New ranges and pre-order alerts (@urbanoutfitters): Exclusive: Get the first look & pre-order new fall styles http://bit.ly/NgLAY
8. Coupons: http://twitter.com/bordersmedia won a soccer game last night. So how about a coupon for 30% off the item of your choice >http://bit.ly/1edxzx
9. Doing the multichannel thing (@americanapparel): American Apparel is hosting a factory flea market sale in Las Vegas tomorrow at UNLV from 9-8pm! http://su.pr/AIA6EW
10. Driving high value in-store visits (@debenhams): We've still got two personal shopper appointments available at 6pm and 7pm in Oxford Street, if you're interested let me know. #debenhams
11. Surveys (@ethicalstore): Survey time! Who... 1.) Has a Paypal account and 2.) Prefers to use it to a credit/debit card when shopping online?
12. Dealing with the PR disaster (@habitatuk): We’ve been listening and we know 140 characters aren’t enough for a full apology, please follow this link http://tinyurl.com/md2spc
13. Communicating downtime (@bookdepository): We upgraded our infrastructure at 4am and our site came back online at 8am BST. Apologies for inconvenience, but site should be faster now!
14. Promoting new website features (@etsy): Just launched: Rearrange your Etsy shop items http://bit.ly/1MhbW
15. Announcing the mother of all sales (@zappos): Big day! Email I just sent to Zappos employees today about the Amazon acquisition - http://blogs.zappos.com/ceo...
16. Recruitment (@petsmarttic): Collegeville, PA: Looking for a job? Come work at the new PetSmart store opening in October. www.petsmartjobs.com.
17. Responding to aggrieved neighbours (@tjmaxx): @leannahamill Our apologizes for the loud music. In order to address this for u we need the store location, please call us at 18009266299
18. Explaining payment limitations (@threadless): @swissmiss Sorry, but PayPal is not supported by our merchant account and also does not offer the level of fraud protection we require!
19. Showing love to the blogosphere (@figleaveshome): @lingerieblog Hi guys. Love the blog. Keep up the good work x
20. Casting for adverts (@frenchconn39): Want to feature in our SS10 Denim Campaign? Come and see us at James Street store in London (16th - 18th 2pm – 7pm, 19th-20th 12pm – 5pm)
21. Sharing videos (@hellobabydirect): I uploaded a YouTube video -- 3 Brother Max bowls http://bit.ly/aymvj
22. Birthday giveaways (@nakedwines): Heads up! We're giving away 6 bottles of Chateau D'Yquem to celebrate our 1st birthday http://www.nakedwines.com/o...
23. Announcing a pop-up store (@luxury_fashion): http://twitpic.com/gz4lz - This Saturday (Sept 12), for 1 day only, we're teaming up with Style.com to launch a pop-up style station in ...
24. Linking to articles about your brand in the media (@americanapparel): The Guardian's great article on American Apparel and immigration http://su.pr/1IXnBF
25. The greater good (@ocadouk): We're supporting the launch of 10:10 at London's Tate Modern from 4pm today. Join us and take the first step to solving climate change.
26. Networking with influencers / former members of The Fall (@topshop_tweets): @Brixsmithstart There are so many lovely bits in your shop ... must be something fab
27. Proactively converting interest to sales (@shirtsmyway): @davenaff If there is anything we can help with please let us know. We would be happy to help.

As mentioned there are plenty of other tweet types out there, but for now this should help answer the 'but what will we tweet about?' question sometimes asked by retailers. By all means flag up some others.


(via econsultancy.)