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Digital technologies evolve near constantly. It doesn’t come as a surprise that selling online would expand into new channels. Ecommerce is now a fixture of our social media feeds, giving rise to a new way of buying: social commerce.
Social commerce is a crucial way to reach buyers where they are and keep loyal ones satisfied. On social media platforms—such as Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest—users can browse brands or categories and, with a few clicks, make a purchase without leaving the app.
There’s an enormous amount of potential revenue available here: In 2024 global revenues of nearly $700 billion U.S. dollars were generated through social commerce.
Ahead, we’ll guide you through what social commerce actually is and how it differs from other buying categories like traditional ecommerce or social selling, along with some of the benefits and tips for first-timers.
Understanding social commerce
Social commerce is a branch of the bigger ecommerce tree. Social commerce is the act of marketing and selling products and services through social media platforms. Businesses and brands of all types promote their goods or services on social media. Customers can then make purchases from a business in the app. It’s a seamless shopping experience that doesn’t require them to buy elsewhere, such as a brand’s website.
Social commerce is critical to the success of any online business. In 2024, over five billion people used some kind of social media platform. That number is expected to increase to over six billion by 2028. It’s one of the easiest and best ways to reach an enormous group of customers.
Social commerce vs. traditional ecommerce
Social commerce wouldn’t exist without ecommerce. A key difference between the two is that ecommerce primarily refers to shopping exclusively on a business’ website or on their own branded app. Desktop, mobile, tablet—any shopping done directly with a brand is within the realm of ecommerce.
Both occur through digital means, but social commerce has to happen on a third-party app, like Facebook or Instagram. Businesses can post items to a feed, in Stories or Reels, or a link on X (formerly Twitter) and users can click the link or item and go through a familiar ecommerce shopping experience in the app.
Social commerce vs. social selling
Selling goods and services on social media is different from using social media to market products and build an engaging relationship with customers. This is called social selling. Social selling is similar to brand-building: Businesses use social media platforms to build trust and authority with their customer base and beyond using content, engagement, influencers, and lead generation strategies.
Social selling helps businesses sell with the help of social media platforms, versus the actual act of purchasing, which is social commerce.
How social commerce works
Here’s an example of how social commerce works in real life: A flower shop is selling fresh floral arrangements for local buyers on their website. The business has separate product pages and descriptions of each item. For example, one arrangement is the florist’s choice, another may be a cream-colored palette only. Buyers can select a hand-tied bouquet or a vase with an extra cost.
This flower shop also has an Instagram account where the owner posts about seasonal specials, floral tips, and insights to engage their audience. With Instagram Shops, the flower shop has a customized virtual storefront on the social media platform where users can select those same products and click to purchase. The app can store their information so it’s populated when they go from cart to purchase. Any sales the flower shop makes on Instagram fall under social commerce.
Benefits of social commerce
There are a lot of reasons to consider including social commerce as part of your business strategy. The sheer size of the audience is one key benefit, but there are many others.
Customer engagement and feedback
Social media is nothing if not an instant feedback loop. If a customer is happy or unhappy, they’re likely to tell you about it on social media. A key part of social commerce is that, while customers are buying your products directly from a social media function, they’re able to ask you questions or get your insight.
Answering customer queries can help promote better customer loyalty. It’s also a valuable way to better understand how well products work right from the source.
Simpler, integrated shopping
Buying functionality has improved so much in the brief time of social commerce’s existence. On most platforms, users can toggle to a specific shopping tab, search for the items of their choosing, and make a purchase with a few clicks. It also means you can much more easily integrate your online shop into your social presence and get the benefits of expanded customer interaction.
Targeting and personalization
While billions of potential buyers are at a given business’ fingertips on social media, not all of them are going to be their target customers. Social commerce, like many other digital properties, allows for refined ad targeting measures and personalization, ensuring you capture users who are likely to buy from you and potentially do so again and again.
Customers also appreciate this level of personalization. They want to be shown what they’re likely to buy, even if they’re not ready to shop right away.
Brand awareness and loyalty
Social commerce is a great way to help promote a brand and deepen ties with customers. Brand awareness is key to getting customer feedback and engagement on social media platforms. Your interactions with customers help build connection and loyalty, and their mentions of your brand can build trust in your business.
Customers will often tag or repost brands to their own feeds, helping to broaden your reach. This sort of social proof helps to legitimize your business in the eyes of other potential buyers.
Social commerce platforms to try
While there are many social platforms today, and there will be many more in the future, there are four primary platforms that consistently encourage social commerce.
The best social commerce platforms you can try include:
TikTok: As a social commerce player, TikTok is still fairly new, but has incredible impact. Businesses with a TikTok for Business account can add tabs to their profile for a virtual storefront.
Instagram Shops: Instagram Shops lets businesses sell their products via a shopping tab, right from their profile, or via shoppable ads. Buyers can even send direct messages to a brand to make a purchase.
Facebook Shops: According to Statista, 21% of digital U.S. buyers prefer Facebook. Businesses with a Facebook Business account are able to set up their own shop with ease. It’s customizable, and equipped to build a catalog from scratch or by syncing with other platforms.
Pinterest: Known for its mood boards and search function, Pinterest allows businesses to upload products to the platform to make them discoverable by users.
Tips for social commerce first-timers
Social commerce is deeply woven into our digital experience. If you’re still new to social commerce or taking steps to integrate it into your strategy, consider the following tips.
Choose the right product and platform combo. Not every product or content piece is going to be good for every single platform. For example, text-heavy ads aren’t really going to garner traffic on TikTok. Ensure you’re pairing the right content and product with the right platform.
Engage with customers. If a customer wants to chat with your business on social media, try to have the conversation there. Respond to comments, reply to DMs, and like or repost shoutouts of your brand. Customers will rally around a business that encourages and acknowledges them beyond their role as a purchaser.
Consider live streaming. With live streaming, businesses can sell their products to an engaged audience in real-time. This works well on TikTok or Instagram. If you have an engaged following, consider testing it out.
Use nano- or micro-influencers. Customers will buy products if they’ve been vetted by a source they trust. Influencers of any size will do, but consider partnering with those who fit your niche and are picky about the businesses with whom they work. Their audience is likely to trust their recommendations.
Make the most out of the data story. Social media provides you with top-tier customer data that can help shape any future product or service offerings and marketing campaigns. Use the full strength of audience insights to better understand who your customers are, what they want, and why.