In a world where consumers spend an average of 2.5 hours on social media per day, social commerce is the real MVP. If you’re looking to grow your e-commerce business, then this article is for you.
Consumers spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on social media.
What is social commerce?
You’re probably very familiar with social media marketing in the e-commerce world, where a consumer views a product on social media and then heads to the brand’s website to purchase. With social commerce, however, the entire shopping experience unfolds on a social media platform. This includes product discovery, research, and the checkout process, meaning the consumer never has to leave the social platform they are on in order to make a purchase.
Shipping solutions for social commerce sellers
Why social commerce matters
Because it’s a simple, painless path to purchase, the value of social commerce sales is projected to reach around $2.9 trillion by 2026, according to Statista. If you want to take home a piece of these profits, read on for 5 things you need to know about the social commerce revolution.
Social commerce sales are projected to reach $2.9 trillion by 2026.
1 – Gen Z and Millennials are driving social commerce.
Over 55% of social media users in the US aged 18-24 made at least one purchase through social channels in 2021, followed by users aged 25-34 years old.
If your target market lies in this age group, they’re probably on their favourite social media platform right now, waiting to buy from you. Are you ready to help them checkout?
Over 55% of social media users in the US aged 18-24 made at least one purchase through social channels in 2021.
Related article: How to Grow Your Business with Industry Forecasts
2 – Social commerce favours small businesses.
59% of consumers claim that they’re more likely to buy from a small business on social media than when generally shopping online. And 44% say they’re more likely to buy from a brand they’ve never even heard of. Clearly, this is a huge opportunity for brands that are just starting out, or launching something new.
59% of consumers claim that they’re more likely to buy from a small business on social media than when generally shopping online.
3 – The future of social commerce is interactive video.
In just 12 hours, e-commerce giant Alibaba generated $3 billion of revenue via social commerce. How? With the help of Li Jiaqi and Viya, two of China’s top live streamers, whose interactive videos were viewed by 488 million people during a single day. Although China is leading the pack when it comes to the use of video for social commerce, other markets are reporting similar trends already.
Alibaba generated $3B in revenue via social commerce in just 12 hours in 2021.
Related article: 6 Biggest Retail and E-commerce Trends of 2022
4 – Social commerce is primed for personalisation.
Social media platforms have become powerful search engines, and – even more importantly – recommendation engines. If a consumer interacts with an Instagram post about candles, for example, they’ll be targeted with more candle-related content. This gives brands the opportunity to hyper-personalise their marketing efforts to people who are already interested in their industry or product category. Think of social media platforms as a prime source of customer data!
Related article: 5 Ways to Improve Customer Experience with Real-time Data
5 – You’re probably already using the most popular social commerce platforms.
But you might not be using them for your checkout process yet. Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, are the two biggest social networks, with almost 300 million users combined. According to forecasts by Statista, TikTok is predicted to beat Instagram’s user base by 2025. And Pinterest is used by around 433 million visitors a month. All of these platforms are social commerce powerhouses, with built-in marketplaces and storefront options. The next step is to use them to create a holistic shopping experience, where a customer can research, view and purchase your products directly from their social platform of choice.
TikTok is predicted to beat Instagram’s user base by 2025.
Related article: 5 Powerful Lessons From the World’s Top E-commerce Companies
Key takeaway
Social commerce effortlessly combines entertainment, human interactions and shopping into one seamless experience, and any brand – large or small – can use it to turbocharge sales.
If you have an e-commerce strategy, you should have a social commerce strategy, too. Start your business journey with Aramex today.
