From the time of the pandemic onwards, there has been a boom in the field of social commerce, linked to an ever new use of social media by both users and companies. But what is it? And is it really a good way for companies to reach their target audience and sell their products?
Often, many people happen to scroll through the Instagram feed, look at the product in a post and think "cute, I would buy this", without then wanting to go to the brand’s website and buy it. For this reason, many platforms have moved forward, allowing companies to connect their shop directly to social media.
Social commerce, therefore, is a practice that combines elements of social media and e-commerce to allow companies to sell their products or services directly through social media platforms. This approach leverages the large user base and the wide reach of social platforms to make it easier for users to purchase.
In particular, it is Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest that mainly exploit this thing, allowing companies to link their shops to platforms or sell directly on them, as is done with the Facebook Marketplace. However, TikTok is also moving a lot to implement more and more smart purchasing features from within the platform, experimenting with various functions in different countries.
In addition, Statista Market Insight data shows a forecast of an increase of up to 22% in social commerce revenue in all e-commerce transactions by 2028, for India, while for China is estimated at 55%.
Although direct sales on social media may seem attractive, recent data have shown that the country from which most purchases are made via social media are, as already mentioned, China and India. However, there is a clear gap compared to other countries, where social commerce is not such a widespread practice and is not expected to be so in the future.
To bring data, following India there is the US trade, in which the percentage of social commerce on all online sales is currently only 8.3%, followed by Brazil with 7.1%, and for 2028 both data will rise to only 9.2%. Thus, the contribution of social commerce to the entire online trade will remain extremely low for all countries other than China and India.
Surely the sales functions on social networks are useful and constantly updated, but for now there are not great openings for brands that want to sell mainly online. They can be implemented to have an extra channel, but for those who intend to sell online e-commerce is certainly the main base from which to better manage sales.
But having an eCommerce is only a foundation. For it to be effective, it has to fit the brand's needs and style, and above all, it has to be easily found in order to generate many sales. Ekeria is a digital agency partner of BigCommerce, one of the best platforms for building professional and secure online stores. We deal with:
Want to know more to open an e-commerce? Contact us and request a free call to talk about your project.