When thinking about e-commerce vs social commerce and which strategy should you choose, the question isn’t really a “versus” one. It’s rarely, if ever, a choice of one or the other. If you have an online store, chances are that social commerce could play a role in increasing your sales and profit.
However, you must first consider your offering, target audience, and many other factors to see if you’ll succeed in this area. But first, let’s start with some context.
What Is Social Commerce?
Social commerce is the combination of social media networking and e-commerce. Thus, it means promoting and selling your products and services using social media. Moreover, what makes social commerce different is shoppers won’t have to leave the social media platform when making a purchase.
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Furthermore, it is more about people connecting with both people and brands around a natural passion they have for a product.
E-Commerce Vs Social Commerce
Most people often interchange e-commerce vs social commerce. However, there is a key difference between the two.
With social commerce, the whole shopper journey happens solely within a social media platform – from product discovery to comparisons to purchasing.
Meanwhile, e-commerce generally refers to a shopper journey happening on a company’s own website or app. Third-party apps are occasionally involved, such as Etsy.
The Rise of Social Commerce
Yahoo! first used the term in 2005. They referred to it as a set of collaborative shopping tools such as user ratings and other user-generated content, and product information.
Between the 2000s and 2010s, social networks grew rapidly, as well as e-commerce and consumer confidence when shopping on mobile devices. Then, customers and brands alike has quickly recognized the benefits of buying and selling through social media networks.
Generation Z and millennials are the driving force of social commerce due to the vast amount of time these two age groups use on social media. Moreover, studies show that Gen Z spends two to three times more shopping on social channels than the average consumer.
Short-form video content has begun to dominate, with younger generations favoring video-centered platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Yet, platforms such as Facebook remain a strong force in social commerce.
However, social commerce alone isn’t enough for businesses selling online. The younger generation demands multiple options for where and when they can buy products.
Social Commerce Platforms
Every social media platform is designed to keep visitors browsing for as long as possible. This gives you the opportunity to leverage the power of ads, which is the platforms’ primary source of revenue generation.
Listed below are the most well-known social commerce platforms today:
Facebook was quick to realize the commercial opportunities at play by allowing merchants to advertise and sell directly through their platform. It is an ideal advertising and commerce opportunity and a no-brainer for B2C merchants.
Owned by Facebook, Instagram also provides an “in-app” shopping experience, handling entire transactions within the platform itself.
Like Instagram, Pinterest is a popular image-based platform for social commerce.
TikTok
TikTok is one of the newest players in social commerce. Shopify partnered with TikTok in October 2020. That is to help their one million plus merchants drive sales through reaching TikTok’s younger and seemingly ever-expanding audience.
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