What is social commerce?
Traditionally, when you think of shopping online, you immediately think of an eCommerce website and with more people turning to online shopping, eCommerce has been flourishing during 2020. However, so has social media, and in pairing those together, you have a new way to reach your audience and build a stronger brand identity online.
Social commerce, I.e. selling on social channels, seems like a no-brainer for businesses looking to target a wider audience and secure those sales in an increasingly competitive market.
Where does this leave online businesses in the future?
With many independent businesses turning to the likes of social media to help push brand awareness and trying to remain prevalent in the minds of their audience throughout the COVID-19 restrictions, utilising social media offering is of course an attractive route to market.
Social commerce is a way of pushing your online presence, using social media engagement and interaction to help sell your products and services. As mentioned in my previous article “should I use social media for my business”, According to Statista “The United Kingdom (UK) was home to 45 million active social media users in 2020. That translated to a social media penetration rate of 66% of the population of the UK”.
social commerce vs eCommerce
In a study conducted by Social Breakers, it was found that during the outbreak of the coronavirus more people flocked to social media platforms to share support to local and independent businesses who required more support due to the pressures of imposed restrictions. People have been using social media platforms to share online pages for smaller businesses, leaving reviews and becoming brand advocates to help increase the brand reach and trust.
According to Statista, a third of all UK retail sales were purchased online in mid-2020, seeing a slight dip in recent weeks, however, with new lockdown restrictions announced, this is expected to increase.
In catering towards an online and social media audience, your online store can begin to see more traction and in turn a return of investment.
Conclusion
The concept of social commerce is nothing new, in fact, it's an element of business growth that you should be using within your business plans already, it’s too large an audience to miss in today’s climate.
