Social Commerce
INTRODUCTION
A CHANGE IN TIME
The worldwide shift that was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic allowed a form of ecommerce to become a relevant business practice that is inevitably becoming mainstream. The
pandemic upended many people’s work, home, school, and social lives. Media consumption
increased more than ever before due to individuals staying at home to avoid the spread of the
disease. As a result, more products were being purchased on the internet, and more people were
spending copious amounts of time online, especially on social media. What followed was an
increase of social commerce. Social commerce is the use of social media platforms to achieve ecommerce goals. Sprout Social shared that “71% of consumers found themselves using social
media more in the last year than ever before and 34% say they’re using it to learn about products,
services, and brands.” (Gomez, 2021). Many businesses are gravitating toward having a social
media e-commerce presence for this reason. Businesses take the high volume of users online to
their advantage by utilizing these social interaction websites to increase their relevancy and
profitability. Social commerce has revolutionized the online shopping experience, changed
consumer buying habits, and changed relationships consumers share with brands.
WHY SOCIAL COMMERCE?
BUSINESS APPEAL
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As social commerce provides benefit for both the business and consumer, it makes sense
why this form of e-commerce rapidly accelerated over the past two years. Many businesses are
acknowledging the importance of having an active social media presence. In September of 2016,
only 1.5 million users on Instagram were business profiles. One year and two months later, 25
million users were brand profiles. (Richter, 2017). Companies cannot ignore the fact that most
people spend time out of their day on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and
Twitter. Businesses small and large can establish an account on a platform and only gain
attraction and customers, so there is no serious risk associated with creating an online presence
for a business. “According to February 2021 research among 250 US marketers by Sprout Social,
85% of large companies, 84% of medium-sized companies, and 57% of small companies already
sell on social commerce platforms.” (WIlliamson, 2021). This form of selling, advertising, and
networking is becoming a necessary business practice this day and age. “Overall, the Internet
allows ‘firms and customers to build and manage relationships with individual customers in a
much more cost-effective manner than is possible in other domains’” (Jain, Kamboj, Kumar, &
Rahman, 2018). It is evident that an online presence is crucial for any business in 2022.
Although to appeal to consumer buying habits, attract more consumers, and retain them,
adopting social commerce as a business practice is a must.
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
In 2020, Facebook launched Shops on Instagram and Facebook. Shops is an online
storefront for businesses to build a brand profile so consumers can shop right on the app. Shops
allows consumers to browse through the business’ catalog and view product specifications as if
they were on their website. In the same year, Facebook, now known as Meta, launched Checkout
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which allows users to purchase products from a business page within the app. Users can directly
purchase by clicking a tag they see on a post or livestream, adding it to their shopping cart, and
proceeding to checkout. Without leaving the app, this feature gives the app an opportunity to be a
one stop shop turning followers into loyal customers. Their goal is to create a targeted in app
experience for e-commerce to be brought directly to the consumer. Instead of them searching for
what they want, it is brought to them. “Of people surveyed, 87% said that they took action after
seeing product information on Instagram, such as following a brand, visiting their website, or
making a purchase online.” (Facebook, 2019). This statistic reveals that a social media site like
Instagram is becoming a relevant part of the online purchase process and brand seeking culture.
Similarly, YouTube is delving into social commerce although it is less established because it
does not provide a seamless transaction within the app. On YouTube, if a creator attaches a
product for sale on a video or livestream, the user will be redirected to the seller’s website for
purchase. This is like how Instagram began converging e-commerce on their social media site, so
it is fair to assume YouTube has more user-friendly plans to come. Shopify, an e-commerce
platform which hosts online stores, partnered with TikTok in order to introduce users to buying
products within the app using TikTok Shop. “TikTok Shop is an innovative new shopping
feature which enables merchants, brands and creators to showcase and sell products directly on
TikTok through in-feed videos, LIVEs, and product showcase tab.” (TikTok, 2022). Meta owned
applications are leading in social commerce and paving the way for other popular social media
sites that are on the horizon of being social commerce platforms. Among social media users in
the US last year, 50% of them use Facebook for social commerce means, and the runner up is
Instagram. (Shaulova & Biagi, 2021)
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CONSUMER APPEAL
Social commerce is becoming more mainstream as consumers consider this transaction
experience more favorable. Sales through social media sites are increasing as more site users are
becoming accustomed to this uniform way of shopping. “US social commerce sales topped $36
billion in 2021 and will more than double in 2025.” (Lebow, 2022). As opposed to shopping
within a website that is fully orchestrated by the business, browsing on social commerce sites can
offer more reviews, product images, tutorials, and brand insight. There is more value brought to
the product finding experience while searching on sites like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok –
so it makes sense why sales through social commerce are on the rise. The time it takes to get
results for many versions of a product is instantaneous. The search for what a consumer wants is
an aesthetically pleasing journey as they are browsing images in the product category as opposed
to clicking links on Google or Safari. Results are versatile as you can scroll through images
posted by brands, consumers, and influencers. Social commerce brings a sense of authenticity for
consumers to see not only what the business wants the public to see but what everyone has to say
about the product or brand. It is vital for brands to establish a presence on these sites for the sake
of potential customers being able to access their site while searching for products through social
media sites.
BRAND LOYALTY
“Daily contact allows brands in Facebook and Twitter to insert themselves, with the
customer’s permission, into the customers daily life sharing with them product and brand
information while creating a space for the consumer to respond to the brand and interact with it.”
(Jain, Kamboj, Kumar, & Rahman, 2018). Users have the option to follow brands and feel like a
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part of their community. Consumers becoming accustomed to viewing content from the brands
they see so often can allow them to easily welcome the brand into their life more so than if it
were pushed as an advertisement. Viewing posts by those of influence, with thousands to
millions of followers, creates a sense of community with the shoppers, brand influencers, and the
business. Influencers displaying their use of brands or specific products in an authentic manner
drives customers to purchase as they favor that feeling of being close with the company or
person promoting it. This community is followed by loyalty and trust for the business. Having
this online relationship can cause a feeling of primacy for the consumers, followers, or fans
involved. “The Internet, and by definition its marketing tools such as social media, is considered
a good medium for relationship marketing and can help create and maintain consumer loyalty.”
(Jain, Kamboj, Kumar, & Rahman, 2018). “Marketing professionals agreed that social media
was very important to their business. In fact, 63 percent agreed with it strongly. These
convictions are reflected in growing expenditures towards this medium. In the United States
alone, social media marketing spending is expected to exceed 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 –
almost a ten billion increase, compared to 2014.” (Statista, 2021). Employing individuals with
small to large following to promote products and the brand itself is one of the smartest choices
that a business could make in 2022 if they are not already. Marketers are using social media as
one of their most lucrative tools, considering that their business’ online presence is their image.
CONCLUSION
THE NEW NORMAL
As earlier displayed, there are millions of people on social media daily. The number of
people online is constantly growing, as well as the number of social media accounts per person.
“In 2014, each person had approximately 4.8 social media accounts. In 2020, there were 8.4
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accounts per person. As social platforms and usage continue to increase, it’s imperative for
brands to embrace a cross-channel approach when it comes to implementing their marketing
campaigns.” (Santora, 2022). It is a common facet for businesses to be active on Instagram,
Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok accounts. Though today, selling on social media is an important
stream of income for businesses to part-take in for the wellbeing of their brand name, relevancy,
and profitability. The user shopping experience within the established Meta applications is
seamless, versatile, and user friendly – while proven to be the most prosperous. Instagram and
Facebook are paving the way for the applicability of social commerce as e-commerce is brought
directly to the consumer without leaving the app, creating a one stop shop. Once known as
followers can transform into retained customers that feel a part of the brand community. Covid19 has changed many aspects of life, especially how businesses run on the internet and consider
their online image as indispensable as their storefront. Social commerce has revolutionized the
online shopping experience, how brands interact with their customers, and considerably altered
buying habits.
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Works Cited
Facebook, I. (2019, February 6). Facebook. Retrieved from Meta:
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/how-instagram-boosts-brands-anddrives-sales
Gomez, R. (2021, November 29). 80% of consumers agree brand awareness makes them more
likely to buy on social. Sprout Social.
Jain, N., Kamboj, S., Kumar, V., & Rahman, Z. (2018). Examining consumer-brand relationships
on social media platforms. In N. Jain, S. Kamboj, V. Kumar, & Z. Rahman, Marketing
Intelligence and Planning (pp. 63-78). New Delhi: Emerald Insight.
Lebow, S. (2022, January 21). Are social shoppers buying into in-app checkout? Retrieved from
EMarketer - Insider Intelligence: https://www.emarketer.com/content/social-shoppers-inapp-checkout
Richter, F. (2017). Brands are Flocking to Instagram. Statista.
Santora, J. (2022, March 29). Key Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know for 2022.
Influencer Marketing Hub.
Shaulova, E., & Biagi, L. (2021). Statista Key Market Indicators. Retrieved from Social media
usage in the United States: https://www-statista-com.rdasproxy.mercy.edu/study/40227/social-social-media-usage-in-the-united-states-statistadossier/
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Statista. (2021, January). Social Media Marketing Penetration in the US 2013-2022. Retrieved
from Statista Market Research: https://www-statista-com.rdasproxy.mercy.edu/statistics/203513/usage-trands-of-social-media-platforms-in-marketing/
TikTok. (2022). Grow your Business with TikTok Shop. TikTok Shop.
WIlliamson, D. A. (2021, December 15). Social Commerce Usage in 2020. eMarketer - Insider
Intelligence.
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