Due to the fast-paced nature of innovation and the ongoing changes linked with social media ecommerce platforms, it can be difficult to predict what is coming up next. However, social media ecommerce platforms are definitely here to stay and are likely to go from strength to strength in line with the release of new technologies and platforms as the world turns to social media more than ever.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen an increase in online activity, and subsequently, online commerce across the board, with businesses looking for and investing into more online presence and activity. It is clear that good performance from recent investment in ecommerce capabilities will mean companies such as Facebook, and therefore Instagram too, will continue to invest heavily in this area. Further investment by platforms and retailers alike will contribute to helping consumers make the leap from ‘like’ to ‘buy’ as consumer confidence grows with buying through social media platforms.
Customisation and personalisation are becoming increasingly important to consumers and being able to have a conversation with a brand has a large role in this. Presenting consumers with limited options, static information, and generic deals is no longer acceptable on any platform, let alone the most popular social media ecommerce platforms, which are synonymous with conversational dialogue. Because of this, chatbots are being used more widely throughout the customer journey. Consumers are becoming more confident conversing with chatbots to help them through payments and direct them to more personalised deals and after-sales service.
Merchants need to offer a seamless user experience and payment process, ensuring that buying on social platforms becomes the norm. Video will play a dominating role, with further emphasis on consumers being able to purchase products mid-video. This will be supported by influencers, who are already a key driver of online purchases and will take on even more of a predominant role moving forwards, causing the confidence of buying straight from videos to grow.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become integrated with social commerce, helping people buy from user-generated content. For example, if someone buys tiles, fits them in their kitchen, and shares a picture of the finished product, the AI will recognise the tiles and if in stock, present consumers with the option to buy the tiles straight from the user-generated content.
In the near future, social ecommerce platforms will see the further introduction of new technologies to aid the buying and selling process, including integration with smart speakers, virtual reality, augmented reality, gamification, and more.
As social commerce becomes more widely accepted by consumers, there will be increased volume in the number of transactions taking place on social media ecommerce platforms. This will be most notable around the key shopping dates in the calendar such as Christmas, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, when consumers are actively researching and discussing products, looking for deals and discounts, and ultimately are in buyer mode.
Why invest in social commerce?
Some of the reasons to invest in social commerce include:
An active audience – There are more than 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025. Being presented with such a large active audience is almost impossible to ignore for any commerce outfit with growth aspirations. This is particularly true when considering the Gen Z population, who are a maturing audience with increased spending power, and who are online, primed, and ready to shop as they scroll. If you want to maximise your online commerce opportunities, it makes sense to operate where your consumers are already active. Social commerce stimulates shopping for convenience, as part of exploration, discussion, and entertainment as it’s a much more natural extension of existing consumer behaviour.
Social shopping era – With consumers turning to smartphones to shop, we are entering an era of online and social shopping, with the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerating this. Social commerce makes shopping a social experience, by being far more interactive than traditional ecommerce. Consumers can consult their closest contacts on brands and products, give or receive recommendations, collaborate on creating certain looks or collections of products, and most importantly have fun whilst shopping from the comfort of their own homes. The interactive and consultative opportunities for businesses are invaluable.
Seamless user journey – Every stage of the purchasing process is an opportunity for consumers to change their minds. Giving your customers the option to buy at the exact moment that they realise they want to purchase will ultimately increase conversion rates. Social commerce can remove friction from your customer’s user journey by facilitating the easy movement from discovery to purchase. Having to click through ads to a website, wait for the site to load, re-select desired products, and navigate an unfamiliar checkout process including the entering of card details are all potential barriers to a sale. These barriers can be removed by social media ecommerce platforms, and be replaced by a quick, effortless user journey with reduced sales drop-offs.
Staying competitive – If your competitors are operating in the social commerce space and you are not, this will be a lost opportunity and you may also be leaking market share. It’s important for you to be there, at best, as a way of staying ahead of your competitors, but at worst, ensuring you aren’t lagging behind. Businesses that are quick to understand the principles of social commerce will inevitably drive more sales than those who aren’t.
Instant feedback – Getting timely feedback on products and services can be vital to success. If you have your catalogue on a social media ecommerce platform, you will be told by your customers what they think of your products, whether you like it or not. This can help with future advertising, reduce costs of gathering feedback elsewhere and aid new product development or existing product modifications. Having two-way dialogues privately in DMs or in public on the comments throughout the consumer’s journey can lead to less forced and therefore skewed customer responses and help provide more personalised customer service.