Social Commerce: Next milestone in evolution of Commerce
Social commerce is using social media to promote and sell products and services. Users can discover products, add them to the cart, and complete the checkout without leaving the app.
Evolution of Commerce
Commerce is evolving, and time and again, we have observed how the effort to buy goods and services reduces. For instance, malls enabled us to buy everything in one place, and e-commerce allowed us to shop from the comfort of our couch. Now, social commerce aims to bring stores to where today’s generation lives. i.e. Social networking platforms.
How can Social Commerce help D2C companies?
- Reduce Checkout hassle — Currently, users discover products through social media promotions and navigate to external websites or apps to complete the checkout process. i.e. Add personal details, address, and payment method, and place an order. Because of saved details on social sites, users can quickly place orders in the same app, experiencing a frictionless process.
- Ease word of mouth promotion — Users can easily share products by using existing social media features such as Direct messages, Posts, and Stories (short videos/posts). They can even tag fellow users or influencers on the product posts to get reviews and recommendations.
- Help understand user reviews — Users can comment about the service and products offered by the business. The companies can study these reviews and recommendations to improve its offerings.
- Facilitate after-sales service — Companies can use the strength of Networking platforms (i.e. Communication) to connect with customers, provide excellent service, and build brand loyalty. Building brand loyalty is a crucial strategy for Digital-first companies in 2022.
- Help analyse user preferences — Companies can positively use user preference data to personalise experiences and promotions and to decide on collaborations with influencers followed by users.
Privacy — A pivotal challenge for Social Commerce
In recent years, Social media users’ concerns about their privacy have spiked, and incidences of data breaches have forced users to rethink their relationships with social media and the security of their personal information. Therefore, the growth and success of social commerce will depend on the users’ trust in the networking platforms.
Will you share your personal and payment information with these platforms?
In my previous article, I mentioned the effect of privacy regulations on advertising costs for e-commerce firms.
Social media shopping solutions for Social Commerce in India
In India, as of now, we do not have any social commerce solution. However, considering our social media user base of more than 460 million, it’s likely that we will see Shop now option integrated into our beloved platforms. On the flip side, this vacuum allows our homegrown apps, such as Koo, Sharechat, and Chingari, to implement and win the social commerce space. Finally, I would like to mention a few solutions present in the US markets —
1. Facebook Shops
2. Instagram Shops — businesses require a Facebook shop to use it.
3. Snapchat Native Store
Thank you for reading my article on Social commerce. I would like to know your thoughts on Social Commerce. Please share them through the responses section. Please give this article a clap if you enjoyed reading it. (You can clap more than once 😊). Apologies in advance for any mistakes I might have made.
