![\"social](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/social-ecommerce-platforms.jpg\")
Social Commerce is an epithet of ecommerce where buying and selling take place on social media platforms. It can be implemented by the companies in many different ways that we will discuss later, but the main thing is that the purchases can be done wholly or partly on a social media platform. Remember, in social commerce, it is not the social media platform which is selling products or services. These are online ecommerce retailers like you. The customers can make a purchase directly from there. Mostly Social commerce comprises global or local marketplaces which include huge businesses selling millions of products to their social media followers. Activities can include various aspects of ecommerce from learning about a product through direct messages to sellers to making a mobile payment via a social app.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the popular examples of Social Commerce:<\/p>\n
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- Google Shopping Ads which you must have encountered on Youtube<\/li>\n
- On Pinterest, there are Product Pins with prices<\/li>\n
- There are also buyable pins for buying products on Pinterest<\/li>\n
- Chat boxes to enquire about products or services<\/li>\n
- Forums and Groups for selling items<\/li>\n
- Facebook Marketplace to sell and purchase products locally<\/li>\n
- Products links and Coupon Codes on Instagram<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Also read: How to build a mobile app for ecommerce<\/a><\/h4>\n
<\/span>What is a Social Commerce Platform?<\/span><\/h2>\n
A social commerce platform is simply a social media platform where an ecommerce store owner can sell his products. Every social commerce platform is a social media platform but vice versa is not true. In the bigger picture, there are three main social media platforms on which products are mostly sold. These are Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Twitter has eliminated the features which used to allow shopper shop products directly through the site or app but will probably introduce a new feature in the future.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Social eCommerce Stats and Market<\/span><\/h2>\n
Social ecommerce is a lot more than just a string of popular buzzwords. It plays a vital role in the ecommerce market and popularizing products. You would be surprised to know that 80% of Internet users make online purchases while there were more than 3.5 billion social media users globally in 2019.
![\"Social](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/Social-Commerce-Stats.jpg\")
<\/p>\n87% of online buyers agree that social media helps them in making a better purchase decision. 25% of business owners are selling items through Facebook alone, and 40% of the merchants leverage social media for generating sales. 30% of consumers say they would make purchases directly through social media platforms. The customers who want to enquire about a product you are selling expect a response in just four hours, while 42% of the followers expect a response within an hour, while 32% expect to get a reply within half an hour. 74% of shoppers rely on social media to guide their purchases. 60% of SMBs say they\u2019ve gained new customers through social media efforts. 43% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it on social media.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Types of Social Ecommerce<\/span><\/h2>\n
There are five main types of Social Commerce:<\/p>\n
<\/span>1. Community Driven<\/span><\/h3>\n
Social web applications that are for sharing, and not for necessary purchases such as Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest are the perfect epitome of community-driven marketplaces. An online store which also offers to chat and sharing feature, and is outside of social media also comes under the category of community-driven social commerce.<\/p>\n
<\/span>2. Platform Driven<\/span><\/h3>\n
At a platform driven site, individuals sell the products, and it brings people together to make a purchase. As an individual, you can start your own online store and generate sales. Some of the best examples of Platform driven sites are Etsy, eBay, etc.<\/p>\n
<\/span>3. Group Driven<\/span><\/h3>\n
Group driven is quite different from the community-driven. In this approach, generally, the group members don\u2019t know each other, but they join in together to purchase items for a lower cost. The best example would be of Groupon.<\/p>\n
<\/span>4. Peer Driven<\/span><\/h3>\n
In peer-driven commerce, users share what they have purchased in their networks. When people see what their friends or family are buying, they are more likely to buy them.<\/p>\n
<\/span>5. User-Driven<\/span><\/h3>\n
The user-driven social commerce allows for recommendations, voting, feedback, and also creating products list the user likes. Amazon.com has some user-generated content in the form of lists called Listmania Lists. Everyone can create one, and it will help drive sales.
\nIn the future, we may see many other types of social commerce. It is still getting its roots in the ecommerce industry.<\/p>\nAlso read: How to build an eCommerce website<\/a><\/h4>\n
<\/span>Major Social Media Platforms To Sell Products<\/span><\/h2>\n
There are many social media platforms that are trying to infuse the ecommerce features among them. The result is they have included a slew of marketing features like \u201cbuy buttons\u201d, product pages, etc. Many features are identical among these platforms. It would be really interesting to know about these platforms in more detail. Here we are discussing the major social commerce platforms i.e. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Facebook\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/Facebook-150x150.png\")
Facebook Store is one of the best ways of introducing social commerce and generating sales. You can showcase your products directly on Facebook, and can redirect users to your online store for conversion. Earlier, the customers only had the option to click on the post link, now your potential customers are already one step closer to clicking \u201cbuy now\u201d. The customers can either type their credit card numbers directly on Facebook or can also store the payment information to check out quickly. Facebook is preferred by brands due to its scale and targeting data. As the shoppers do not easily leave this site, it is highly reliable for ecommerce owners.<\/p>\n<\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Instagram\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/Instagram-150x150.jpg\")
Instagram introduced a shopping feature on its platform in 2016. Instagram has gained massive popularity for ecommerce within a very short time period. As per a study, the number of ecommerce owners who use Instagram for business has increased from 53.2% to 73.2 % in the last three years. Companies are preferring Instagram because most of the users discover new products on Instagram, and among them, 75% take action after seeing the post. Also, 80% of the Instagram users follow at least one brand on it. However, on Instagram, you can\u2019t make a checkout through the app. Instead, photo and video posts link out to a website, adding an extra step and making the experience a little less slick than Facebook’s version.<\/p>\n<\/span>YouTube<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Youtube\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/Youtube-150x150.png\")
Youtube, the biggest streaming video platform across the world is also beneficial for selling products online. There are more than 5 billion videos watched on YouTube daily with over 6 billion hours of watch time per month. It is the perfect platform for promoting your brand and generating business.<\/p>\nYouTube rolled out a souped-up version of its TrueView product that places a shopping button directly across the screen from an option to skip a pre-roll ad. Clicking through on the shopping button leads to a website featuring the products in the ad, and people can then put products into a shopping cart. However, when someone clicks on the shopping button retailers can’t identify what the user does, which makes it difficult for the brands to definitely know whether a video promo actually drove a purchase.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Pinterest<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Pinterest\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/06\/Pinterest-150x150.png\")
The San Francisco-based platform’s “buyable pin” buttons let users purchase anything they see on the site. The feature has helped many brands for understanding how their content generates online sales outside of Pinterest. It is aimed at supporting the business owners who use inspiration to attract sales. On Pinterest, the ecommerce owners can feature multiple products on a single ad so the Pinner can find valuable products in the Pin’s image content, and then click to checkout on the retailers\u2019 site. You can tag up to 25 items in a single image. There are also catalogs and shopping ads by which you can upload a full catalog to Pinterest and then automatically turn your products into shoppable product pins.<\/p>\nPinterest understands the users\u2019 choices and that\u2019s why the move piques marketers\u2019 interest. In comparison to the other social media platforms, Pinterest users are unusually accustomed to interacting with product-driven images. So, the site inherently slants toward the end of the purchase funnel when someone is ready to buy on the spot.<\/p>\n
![\"hire](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/get-ecommerce-mobile-app.jpg\")
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