In 2015, the gap between social networks and e-commerce is narrowing. Not content with likes, retweets and pins, some of the biggest social media players announced trials of ‘Buy It’ and ‘Shop Now’ buttons as part of the architecture of their platforms this week. Aiming to monetise your clicks with more immediacy than ever, Pinterest and Instagram are the first social networking platforms to put their money where their mouths are. Over at Google, according to Mashable, senior vice-president Omid Kordeastani has confirmed plans to introduce a “buy” button sometime in the future. So why are all your favourite social media platforms so keen to get you shopping – and why now?