Insight
The rise of Social Commerce
A consumer engagement and growth opportunity for brands
Social Commerce is creating exciting new ways to engage and convert consumers through inspiration, interaction, discovery, and ease of purchase. This offers new opportunities for brands. However, what is Social Commerce, what is the potential, and what are the opportunities and key steps in getting started?
By Florine Bruijn, Edoardo Braccini and Leonora Lawson
The rise of Social Commerce
According to Deloitte, Social Commerce is a seamless, integrated shopping and social experience on an app or site. That makes it one of the most relevant trends in the Consumer Business. Why is this such a booming trend? Today, almost 60% of the global population are active social media users, spending 2.5 hours a day on these channels. In total, consumers are passing nearly 7 hours per day on the internet (of which nearly 4 hours are on their mobile). In parallel, e-Commerce has become mainstream, and consumers are looking for instant gratification. Social Commerce is further triggered by the growth of peer-to-peer platforms and influencers.
Unlocking the key benefits
This raises the question of how to tap into this growth opportunity. It is not a “stand-alone” sales channel, as it can serve multiple purposes within a powerful consumer engagement ecosystem. Brands must critically assess the key benefits they want to unlock, from driving impulse buys to strengthening brand awareness and credibility, improving the shopping journey, targeting a specific audience in their shopping habitat, and enhancing consumer/product insights.
Next steps
When brands get started in Social Commerce, they need to take five steps into consideration. These steps are discussed in Deloitte’s The evolution of Social Commerce: A growth opportunity for brands. The quickest way to gauge its impact is to first nail down the specific reasons to play, and then run focused pilots as part of an iterative learning journey. Exploring the channel will pose key questions for stakeholders within the organisation, from e-Commerce and Marketing to Digital and Supply chain. These are discussed as well in our publication, which you can download from this page.
For feedback on the publication or for a conversation exploring the Social Commerce opportunity that fits your brand, please reach out to us through the contact details below.