We all are inclined to the daily scroll of social media and the tunnel we can find ourselves inevitably sucked into at any intervals throughout our day to day business. Whether we are on our morning commute, on the treadmill at the gym, or in bed as we squint with our screens inevitably glistening as we begin to wind down.. Do you find yourself often looking at brands' social media pages and shopping through that app rather than through their website? Us too.
Companies have seen the shift in other marketing and advertising elements that have been navigated by influences such as social media. Brands and retailers have taken advantage of the buy now features that can be included on the platforms, leaving the entire process from discovery to checkout with users never having to leave their chosen social platform.
There are always advantages and disadvantages when using any new features online, as much as you can predict the majority of likelihoods this is not always the case with consumers accepting a different functionality as part of their buying methods. As a business, adapting your marketing strategies by including such functions like social commerce, it can locate and differentiate buying patterns as part of their logistical understanding of their online presence.
One obvious advantage is reducing the possibility of cart abandonment within the buying process, this is as by using social commerce the customer cannot come out of the purchase method without exiting the process altogether.
Social commerce is often confused with e-commerce. e-Commerce is buying and selling any product by a website or dedicated brand apps. Whereas social commerce hones in on selling goods via social media without leaving the platform as an all inclusive process and experience.
Although arguably it is noted that Gen-Z and millennials are the main target market with social commerce, as for certain industries this may not be of relevance. As fashion and accessories have been recorded as dominating the market.
Brands that are leading the way for social commerce:
It is great to see an array of global brands taking on the world of social commerce and reaping the benefits. As a consumer facing brand are you considering this as part of your business strategy to enhance the buying process online? Social commerce provides a new outlook on how we can connect users to our main website and gain leads from consumers that wouldn’t have found the site otherwise.