DEI in the creator's market

The rise of social commerce

Over the last few years, there has been a significant shift in both the approach to and execution of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across every industry. The internal pressure from employees and the external pressure from society led many companies to address the gaps in their DEI strategy. In taking a closer look into the DEI strategies for brands and retailers responding to the rise of social commerce, one topic to consider is how the brick-and-mortar and e-commerce experiences influence a brand’s reputation and the impact it could have on their social shopping strategy.

Brands need purposeful execution when creating these new digital storefronts to help ensure that any discrimination or discomfort historically felt in physical stores does not transfer to social commerce. Platforms are incentivized to support brands in the design of their social shopping experience to strengthen trust and build connection with consumers who are seeking a place to interact socially and transact safely.

The role of trust in social shopping

Trust and transparency are crucial to social commerce. An essential factor that differentiates it from brick-and-mortar is the inclusion of creators and influencers. Depending on their followership size and their overall community engagement, creators can serve as a source of consumer inspiration on behalf of product and lifestyle brands.

Additionally, through social platforms, brands and creators have direct contact with consumers; through targeted and authentic messaging, they can establish trust and enable a seamless purchase experience. We have highlighted a few ways in which brands and platforms can harness the influencer economy and this direct relationship with consumers to lead with purpose in how they approach DEI, trust, and transparency:
 

Ultimately, DEI should be a part of the culture at any social brand or retailer and social platform. Not only should their internal strategies reflect evolved thinking on what it means to be an ally to their workforce, but their external strategies should elevate the overall creator and customer experience.

Deloitte is equipped to support brands as they execute on their DEI approach within their social shopping strategy. Deloitte’s HX TrustID and Ethos assets and offerings help brands build trust, consider DEI, and lead with purpose. For more information, review other thought leadership we have developed on this topic.

Endnotes

¹ Meta, “How brands can collaborate with creators to meet the growing diversity challenge,” September 29, 2021.
² TikTok, “The discover list: Meet the TikTok creators of 2021,” October 19, 2021.
³ Isabella Simonetti, “TikTok’s Black creators say unfair-treatment complaints ignored,” Bloomberg, July 8, 2021.
⁴ Johanna Wright, “Updates on our efforts to make YouTube a more inclusive platform,” YouTube Official Blog, December 3, 2020.

Get in touch

		Dennis Ortiz Managing Director Deloitte Consulting LLP			Julius Tapper Senior Manager Customer Strategy and Applied Design			Ashley Perkins Manager Customer Strategy and Applied Design