Guide to Social Commerce
Selling things directly through social media is becoming more popular around the world. An effective technique for improving sales is to provide a seamless and focused customer experience where users can discover, research, and purchase without leaving social media.The social media industry is preparing for an acceleration in social commerce growth as key platforms improve their shopping and check-out capabilities. According to Statista data from 2021, 11% of social media users made an immediate online purchase after finding a product, while 44% made a later purchase.
The global Covid-19 pandemic has also accelerated social commerce, with many users conducting research and making purchases on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Platforms such as Instagram have plans to encourage more in-app payments by providing tools that allow users to keep payment data and simplify check-out pages.
Let’s take a look at social commerce and how it might help your company boost sales and income.
What Is Social Commerce?
Social commerce refers to online transactions on social media platforms or other platforms. Instead of being sent off-platform to the retailer’s store website to finish their purchase, social commerce consumers can do so directly on the social media platform. This implies that the whole purchase process, from browsing to check-out, takes place on social media, taking the eCommerce site completely out of the picture.
Types of Social Commerce
The eCommerce business is witnessing significant transformation as all social media platforms go transactional, and businesses must keep up with this trend. Here is an overview of the many social commerce that businesses may use as part of their online strategy.
Bots are being used to increase engagement and revenue.
Using a chatbot can reduce your cost per conversion while increasing your sales. This is precisely what LEGO did following the launch of a chatbot campaign on Facebook Messenger. They employed the bot with step-by-step CTAs, playful language, and fun graphics to attract people to buy. This form of social commerce promotes dynamic and easy buying experiences, and using bots to achieve certain goals might be a good strategy.
Using stories to sell items
For a long time, temporary material and videos have been popular social media trends. Current shopping options now allow firms to market their items on their own stories as well as the stories of influencers. Customers may easily shop products directly from content with a fast swipe-up. Promoting items with stories may be effective, but it takes time because each story is just a few minutes long. For the greatest reach and effect, brands must plan appealing content and post on a regular basis. Working with influencers may sometimes help companies reach their target audience and develop trust.
Creating shoppable content from social media posts
Tagging items in posts to drive conversions at the moment of inspiration is perhaps the most important aspect of social commerce. Shoppable content provides a seamless experience, allowing customers to purchase in only a few clicks. Brands may use this as part of their social commerce strategy to increase conversions to their online store. With easily available merchandise, businesses may capitalise on impulse purchases. Instagram is one of the most common channels that offer this option; their guide shows how to set it up in 7 stages.
Using live video shopping to inspire purchase
China is the world leader in livestream purchasing, with millions of customers buying at the moment of inspiration. This pattern has definitely influenced other markets. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are all rolling out new purchasing options for live videos. This social commerce trend is being embraced by an increasing number of companies and merchants. Walmart, for example, has collaborated with TikTok to webcast shopping activities. A move that makes a lot of sense given that 61 percent of customers would be willing to buy things from within a live broadcast.
Social commerce tips
Make collections or group products
Make sure your business is easy to navigate and explore, especially before key seasonal events like Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Black Friday. Nike has done this quite successfully on Instagram by leveraging Collections sections inside their shop. These are labelled ‘Gifts for Him’ and ‘Gifts for Her,’ making their items easy to navigate and find ahead of key gifting seasons.
Leverage on videos
Take a look at the long list of new features introduced by social media giants in recent years, and you will notice one thing they all have in common: a love for videos.
TikTok’s video-only platform quickly dominated the social media market. Instagram introduced Reels, a TikTok competitor to keep up.
As a result of these developments, consumers are growing more reliant on video throughout the purchasing process. Brands that are new to the video space can experiment by including product videos in their social commerce strategy.
Make a brief video of one to two products in action. Film with interaction in mind, including clickable calls to action that drive viewers to your social shop. For example, Kylie Cosmetics’ Instagram Reel tags items from its Instagram Shop:
Prioritise visuals
Almost two million Snapchat videos, 240,000 Facebook photographs, and 575,000 tweets are posted every minute. Your branded content must have a compelling purpose to stand out. The aesthetic aspect of your social media material influences whether or not people engage with it.
But it’s not simply beautiful pictures and films that are important. If you are developing an online shopping experience, treat your social shop with the same care you would give your website storefront.
Consider incorporating visual prompts and animation, as seen in the virtual store of NYX Cosmetics. With the hashtag #NYXCosmetics21Drop, the shop announced the introduction of its new product line. Audiences on Snapchat and Triller may use augmented reality to watch concert live streams, try on cosmetics, and buy merchandise.
Visual appeal does not always indicate polish. Selectively broadcasting less-refined live streams, such as SKIMS’ perfectly laid out socks in a recent shoppable Instagram Reel, might nevertheless make current consumers feel connected to your company.
Conclusion
The growing popularity of social commerce is guaranteed to have an increasing influence on consumer purchasing behaviour. Instead of directing consumers to an online website, brands may now sell straight to them at the moment of inspiration. Allowing customers to check out directly from their favourite social network offers a quicker route to buy with fewer clicks. This will ultimately result in higher conversion rates, increased sales, and greater brand revenue.
