In this day and age, modern businesses are increasingly attaining leverage by utilising technology, social media platforms, and Artificial Intelligence, otherwise known as AI.
To put it bluntly, if you are not online, you are practically leaving cold, hard cash on the table. More than half of consumers are purchasing online, so there are already various platform users who are waiting for you to shop.
Modern times and trends require organisations to join the mainstream, mark their digital footprint, and be present and seen regularly. If a brand wants to remain relevant, it must expose its products or services where the eyeballs are.
All this is also called social commerce, and it can be easily mixed with social media marketing, but more on this later. Let us delve further to better grasp procedures and benefits of social commerce and what it brings with it.
Social Commerce – Defined
As aforementioned, in a nutshell, social commerce is when a company is selling directly to consumers via social media, and in fact, it is also known as social media shopping or social shopping.
Social commerce is a type of eCommerce, but the main differences are:
Traditional eCommerce – brands are selling their stuff on their own apps and websites, they might sell via social media platforms or online, but the link will divert to their own digital address, and consumers will need to purchase from there
Social Commerce – consumers can not only view what a brand is advertising on social media platforms, but they can also purchase it directly from there
I tapped on this in the intro, and now it is the right time to expand on the subject. Social commerce differs from social media marketing. They are best of friends, mind you, but they differentiate from each other since, as we said, social commerce is selling products/services directly on social media, while social media marketing is promoting only.
If your brand already has a solid following on social media, then sales will help you to monetise on this. On the other hand, if you are still starting on social media, the exposure, publicity, and reaching out to targeted niches will help you grow in followers and sales in tandem.
Social Commerce – Mechanisms
The idea here is to attract consumers to your brand and purchase without leaving the social media platform they are surfing on, which can result in an unwanted and/or annoying experience.
Buyers will discover your offerings while scrolling on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, browse and hopefully purchase directly from your set-up shoppable storefronts, without leaving the app.
To further reduce friction and increase conversion rates, social commerce holds features like shoppable posts, product tags, and in-app checkout, which all streamline the purchasing process.
Basically, potential consumers can click on links on highlights or stories to access the shop area and browse various themes and product collections like for example, women`s denim. Consequently, they can then click on images to see more details and decide on their purchase.
The Importance of Social Commerce for Brands
Social shopping’s future is bright, as recent studies have shown that by the end of 2026, social commerce sales are expected to exceed the $100 billion mark for the first time.
Brands providing seamless integration and access to their shops via social media are positioned better than their direct competition, which is not. Let us check out three key advantages.
Selling to consumers where they are – social media is being utilised by half of consumers to discover, compare and buy products, meaning that part of their normal scrolling behaviour is social shopping. Therefore, by posting shoppable content and maintaining a social commerce presence, your brand will meet potential buyers where they hang out.
Selling seamlessly and fast – extra steps are being avoided by social commerce, as consumers do not need to travel to a brand`s website to view and purchase, which could represent a barrier, as they need to leave the social media platform, with the risk of losing interest and preventing them from purchasing there and then. Alternatively, with social commerce in place, we find that visitors are less likely to hesitate before buying and/or are also less likely to abandon the transaction before completion.
Driving sales through personalisation – as marketers will tell you, the ability to target niche audiences and deliver hyper-personalised messages to individual consumers is supercharged by social media platforms. Direct sales can be generated by reaching the right shoppers with these same capabilities.
Hot Tips to Succeed in Social Commerce
A social commerce program, if implemented correctly, can yield enormous benefits, but your efforts risk falling flat if you do not consider statistics and facts.
We highly recommend that you plan your social commerce approach in line with what your targeted niche or audience is after. It is never advisable to use a one-size-fits-all approach across platforms. Knowing your market and audience is key, like younger generation tends to be more present and buy online than older ones, however, different demographics are motivated by different things to make a purchase. So, you must cater for different shopping preferences, position your shop so it is targeted to them on the right platform by thinking where your ideal customer spends most time.
Figures to consider:
Millennials (56%) & Gen Z (53%) – social commerce adoption leaders, they pretend your social commerce program to be sophisticated and responsive
Boomers – more influenced by discounts (60%) and reviews (55%), so integrate these in your social commerce shop to reach them
Younger shoppers – attracted to humour and relatability, so consider your tone especially on platforms like TikTok and Instagram
Frequent social shoppers – more active on Instagram (69%) and TikTok (61%), which also corresponds with the highest figures of Gen Z and Millennial users. If your brand is starting out on social commerce, you can`t go wrong choosing one of these two platforms, as they are fertile grounds to reap sales
Finally, do not ignore messages or comments left about the shopping experience, as you can learn from them to tweak and meet customers ‘expectations, obviously within reason.
Final Thoughts
Predictions for the future of social commerce are bright, as it is poised to grow at a rate of 31% annually, so expect to see more emerging platforms like Meta Quest – a VR (Virtual Reality) Shopping Experience.
Moreover, AI will enable more platforms and brands to scale faster; therefore, it is key to keep an eye on where your customers are flocking to.
Our best advice is to meet your consumers in places where they already love to hang out and provide seamless options which do not require them to leave their preferred social media platform to purchase from your brand.