Understanding Social Commerce
A by-product of e-commerce & social media.
Overview
Social commerce is the merging of two of the most prominent activities in the digital landscape; Social Media and E-commerce. An easy way to grasp this emerging concept is by looking at it as a simple equation:
Social Media + E-commerce = Social Commerce.
But what does Social Commerce actually involve? It essentially allows online users to engage in social media shopping, which in other words means you can buy products and services within your social feed, without having to leave the social platform you are currently on.
It is important to also acknowledge how Social Commerce isn’t a competitor to traditional e-commerce activities, but rather, a new priority and a crucial enhancement to what e-commerce services can do. The future of e-commerce is social commerce, as it acts as a core asset in any e-commerce business’ toolkit supporting their existing sales channels.
As a result, various opportunities arise, for Businesses and Consumers alike. These benefits are discussed in more detail below, but in a nutshell, the underlying advantage of Social Commerce is its paradigm-shifting method of changing the way sellers and buyers interact.
Business benefits
As Social Commerce continues to gain traction, more and more brands will be spurred to evolve their online business presence by jumping on board the “social media e-commerce” train. As previously mentioned, Social Commerce brings new benefits and opportunities for brands of all sizes to personally interact with their customers, ultimately supporting their omnichannel commerce strategy. By harnessing their social platforms for sales purposes, brands can deliver a seamless in-app journey to purchase, as well as benefit from the following:
1. New distribution channel
With Social Commerce, businesses can welcome a new way of distributing their products to reach all their potential customers.
By merging marketing and sales tactics, social media e-commerce allows brands to sell via organic & paid methods, directly within consumers favourite social platforms.
2. Better connections
Social Commerce also acts as a connection stimulator, by allowing brands to personally connect with their consumers, as well as easily partner with influencers. This ties in with social proofing, as users no longer feel the need to look elsewhere, reducing the average number of searches and resulting in faster sales.
3. Lucrative revenue source
By delivering a more seamless checkout experience, Social Commerce can help businesses reduce cart abandonment, as consumers are no longer required to input their details. A quicker checkout leads to less time for users to change their minds, ultimately resulting in greater conversion and less lost revenue.
4. Boost engagement & Virality
The ability to connect with target consumers can also drive discovery. This can lead to a chance of virality (ie. #tiktokmademebuyit trend where users share their latest social media shopping), which can ultimately boost consumer engagement and transform consumption habits
Consumer benefits
Businesses aren’t the only ones to benefit from Social Commerce. Online shoppers also fall into the lucky category for better online shopping experiences with the advent of social media e-commerce tactics. The three main benefits being ease, speed and security.
1. Zero hassle
Social Commerce is synonymous with seamless and frictionless shopping. By removing additional steps like redirects and filling out personal details, users can be delighted by a hassle-free and improved shopping UX. This is especially a game-changer to the more “impatient” shoppers that are likely to give up on the purchase when the journey is more complex than it needs to be.
2. Zero searching
By keeping the entire shopping experience within one single platform (in this case the social media platform), users can benefit from less searching around. This is especially true in today’s day and age, where consumers heavily rely on brands’ social media presence for legitimacy and trustworthiness.
3. Zero fraud
Social Commerce is built on secure technology which saves and protects consumer data from fraud. By removing the step of inputting card details at checkout, users are safe from those details being stolen, ultimately adding an extra layer of trust and confidence to the whole UX.
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