Discover the leading social commerce sites today that are driving the best of e-commerce.
What is Social Commerce?
Social commerce is when you make a product purchase from a third-party company directly from the native social media platform.
Let me give you an example to simplify things further.
For example, you have come across a product on Facebook. Then, after reviewing the product’s specifications, you want to purchase it. So instead of purchasing the product on the product’s website itself, social commerce allows you to purchase it directly within Facebook.
Within Facebook, you can browse, compare, and shop products. The same goes for other social media platforms today. Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, for instance. This is what you call social commerce.
The said social media platforms are the ones leading today’s social commerce space. Namely, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Leading Social Commerce Sites Today
Learn how these social commerce giants are leading today’s e-commerce. Knowing so can help you redesign and rethink your digital marketing strategies.
Aside from building connections with friends and loved ones, Facebook today is also connecting marketers to their customers.
The platform has a new ‘Shop Now’ feature that allows brands to create a new level of shopping experience for their customers. Both on pre and post-sale, customers are actively engaged in the marketing process.
What can you do with a Facebook store?
- Add your catalog of products
- Add product information individually
- Sell products right on your page
- Manage orders & receive valuable insights
- Run paid ads within the platform
According to Facebook data, Instagram is a go-to choice for shopping enthusiasts for product discovery. That’s why because of this, the platform opens its own shopping feature- Instagram Shopping.
Through Instagram Shopping, you can tap on images and stories and directly see the products featured on it. Tapping on the specific product will lead you to the product itself. And that’s where the shopping journey continues.
What can you do with Instagram Shopping?
- Sell physical goods or anything right on your Instagram business account
- Connect Instagram business account with a Facebook business page
However, this shopping feature is only yet available in over 70 countries. Availing this feature also needs to comply with the platform’s merchant agreement & commerce policies.
Instagram’s in-app checkout feature is available to a limited number of selected brands. Perhaps in the future, this feature will be expanding to more merchants.
Pinterest commerce is another giant in social commerce today.
In June 2015, Pinterest started to release buyable pins. Currently that year, the platform has 30 million active users. But in only 3 months after the release of that new feature, the number of users doubled to 60 million. As a result of this progress, the average order value of sales from the platform reaches $50. This is so much higher than other social media platforms.
Tips for Selling in Pinterest
- Invest in producing original content images. 80% of Pinterest’s content is repinned. So if you produce original content, you will stand out in searches.
- Feature your products with a quality visual representation. Perhaps in different colors will do. Doing so will speed up the attraction process, thus, making you stand out more.