How social commerce is transforming online shopping experiences

While brands’ general use of social media can help to excite users about a product, implementing social commerce can help them to capitalise on it by facilitating quick purchasing. For example, AR filters can help customers experience products by ‘trying on’ a new lipstick shade or positioning a piece of furniture in the home. But when shoppable functionality is also enabled, the brand can secure a sale in addition to driving engagement through the brand experience. 

Until now, brands’ attempts to blur the lines between physical and digital experiences have largely been focused on incorporating digital solutions within physical stores, but social shopping provides an opportunity to do the reverse. For many, in-person shopping is a social experience but traditional online shopping is distinctly unsocial. But 81% of consumers’ purchasing choices are swayed by their friends’ social posts and recommendations, and 78% are influenced by brands’ posts, making social e-commerce the perfect solution to fill that void. 

Brands that incorporate exciting brand experiences and shoppable social content within their e-commerce strategy have the opportunity to digitally replicate the inspiration, interactivity and immediacy of in-person shopping. 

Expanding audiences

Social media usage is largely ingrained in millennial and Gen Z lifestyles, but over the last year, it has grown to play an increasing role in the lives of older generations too, with many from those groups adopting digital technology to stay in touch during the pandemic. Driven by this need to digitally connect during lockdown, social media users surged by 521 million in the year to April 2021, making it a prime area for brands to broaden their audiences.

Shoppable social media also opens up valuable new data streams about target audiences which can, in turn, help brands to further expand their customer base and drive sales. By gaining data and insights on the product content that garners the most interaction and engagement, brands can create even stronger social commerce strategies. For example, if a product is proving popular with people in a specific geographic region, they can increase marketing in that area, leveraging the evidence that people will be more inclined to buy based on their friends’ social posts, to increase sales and new customers. 

Social commerce provides brands with an opportunity to sell at a point in the journey where customers are most active and inspired; turning social media engagement into sales. With minimal investment, companies can quickly and directly reach desired demographics and generate revenue while maintaining brand equity. If your business is considering how to integrate shoppable social content into your e-commerce strategy, DEPT® can help. Get in touch with our experts today.