The rise of Social Commerce

The rise of social commerce comes as little surprise when one considers the natural progression and recent growth of online shopping and social networking. The increasing use of websites like Facebook and Twitter are only adding to the customer desire to be social while engaging in activities such as shopping online. With this in mind, it is no wonder that the idea of social commerce has been on the rise, and this is happening very quickly – more quickly than most online businesses are equipped to respond to.

Businesses have identified the benefits of social media not only in reinforcing links between their physical and online presence, but also for brand awareness, reach, and influence in decision making throughout the purchase process.  However, there is more to social commerce than adding a ‘Like’-button to your page and sitting back to wait for sales to come through. This, or setting up a Twitter feed, seems to be the extent of social commerce efforts by most businesses today. Using this kind of approach brings short term benefits, but it is not the right approach to ensuring long term success.

In fact, social commerce offers an opportunity for brands to engage with their customers directly, and most businesses will agree that having an online presence is vital for that very purpose. Unfortunately, too many brands have yet to seize the opportunity in social commerce, preferring instead to rely on marketplace portals and other social networking sites such as Facebook. Driving people to another website, away from the actual brand, can lessen the impact of marketing efforts and the brand relationships that companies work hard to develop, as it can lead to customers making their purchases without ever having to interact directly with the brand they are buying from.

To fully realise the potential of social commerce, brands should first work towards making their own site truly social and provide a channel that allows users, where possible, to engage, both with the brand and other users. To do this successfully, social commerce must put consumers first and content second, rather than the other way round, as is currently the case. By all means, businesses and brands should take advantage of their customers’ social network channels, but they must also provide the tools and features to enable them to enjoy online shopping in a social way – by including social functionality within the brand’s own site. In this way, customers can be as sociable when shopping online as they would in real life – a prerequisite these days for successful online selling and engagement.

Done the right way, social commerce can give users a voice on the site, rather than pushing them away to talk about it elsewhere. Small changes, such as putting reviews where the users are and allowing them to share and connect with individuals with similar preferences and interests can make all the difference in how far a customer engages with the brand they are buying from.

When correctly implemented, social commerce can be very powerful and profitable. By creating a seamless portal on their site that allows consumers to use existing social networks and engage with like-minded users, brands can create a new type of retail experience; an experience that is effectively a shop window into the site where customers can see what their friends and peers are doing and buying. Social commerce has the potential to be one of the biggest revenue generators for businesses in the coming years and brands must act now to make inroads into this rapidly rising trend.

By Anton Gething, nToklo

Anton Gething is the co-founder and product director of nToklo. Anton has over 10 years’ international experience within the online and social media content space, with a focus on mobile, having gained a wealth of experience and knowledge whilst at organisations such as Vodafone, Yahoo! and Teleca.

Tweet

Leave your reply

Click here to cancel reply.