There is no doubt that social commerce has given brands more power than ever. However, you need to be aware of the pros and cons of social commerce. Listed below are some of those.
Pros
Low Cost
This is probably the most obvious reason why social commerce is an excellent marketing tool. You won’t have to spend a single penny in using social media. Hence, social media marketing is the first option for small businesses or anyone else who’s a bit short of cash at the moment.
High Reach
Almost everyone is on social media so why waste precious resources on ads if they’re just going to be put in the back of a magazine no one will look at? Moreover, there is no need to spend all of your resources on the website if you’ve got no method to lead shoppers to it. Hence, the smartest thing to do is go where the people are. Social commerce widens your audience reach.
Ads by Digital Commerce
More Profits
By definition, social commerce allows customers to complete the entire shopping journey – from discovery to comparison to payment – without leaving the platform. Hence, it makes the purchase journey much simpler with fewer clicks. Keep in mind that the more clicks the purchase journey has, the more chance the buyer will abandon their shopping cart.
Customers Can Have a Brand Relationship
Social commerce enables a close, two-way relationship between the customers and the brand. Customers want to feel listened to, not just sold to. Hence, social commerce may help build up trust and long-lasting relationships for increased customer loyalty. But to achieve this, you need to engage sincerely and humanly. Customers want to see your brand’s true colors.
Cons
Sellers Lose Control of Their Customers
As mentioned at the outset, you need to be aware of the pros and cons of social commerce. It is not always rainbows and butterflies in social commerce. For instance, many people are concerned about who really owns the customer – the social network or the seller.
The platform, not the retailer, records the customers’ information when they check out on that social network. Hence, this makes it more difficult for retailers to better understand their customers and offer them more personalized experiences.
Some merchants feat that social networks could sell this customer data to others or be used to redirect shoppers to competitors. This will likely result in damaging the customers’ trust in the brand.
The Reach Is Limited
Do not overestimate the influence of social media. Indeed, the pandemic has increased the social media usage of users. However, there has not been an increase in the number of unique social media users. Furthermore, huge growth in the number of social media users won’t happen until developing countries have limited access to smartphones and the internet.
The Possibilities Are Limited
Many people still prefer to do online shopping on the brands’ websites or marketplaces. They only view social networks as tools for being social, but not for purchasing.
The pros and cons of social commerce listed above show that social networks must not only be your sales channel. You should focus on developing an omnichannel approach. Furthermore, your social media approach must be enriching and human.
Ads by Digital Commerce
