Social commerce: what is this phenomenon?


The previous holiday season has shown that social commerce is set to grow significantly in 2020. More and more consumers are using social media platforms to purchase products. What does this phenomenon actually entail?

A simple description would be that it involves the buying and selling of items on social media networks such as Facebook or Instagram. This trend started growing back in 2015 when various such sites introduced the ‘Buy It’ button. Several businesses could add this to their pages. Since then, this new concept has achieved a huge success. It allows shoppers to reach out to companies more easily to learn about a product or to complete a purchase. Studies have shown that social networks now influence 74 percent of customers’ buying decision. As such, it is important to implement effective strategies.

There are several applications of social commerce. Some of these are:

Ø  Offering chat boxes. These will allow clients to ask questions about your products and services,
Ø  Group pages and forums to access a wider audience for buying and selling,
Ø  Making e-payments via social networking pages,
Ø  Use Facebook Marketplace to list items,
Ø  Use Product Pins with prices and Buyable Pins to sell products directly on Pinterest,
Ø  YouTube videos with Google Shopping Ads and
Ø  Coupon codes and links on Instagram.
Many people purchase products on social networking sites

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