To put it simply, social commerce is the act of using social networking platforms online to promote products and drive sales. It is a fast-growing, highly influential market that is expected to be worth $1.2 trillion by 2025 with mobile commerce accounting for 44.2% of sales. Because so many people can buy online using their mobile devices, oftentimes their smartphones, this means that businesses of all sizes will have a guaranteed way to connect with their customers. Users are more likely to engage with brands over platforms they are already familiar with, such as ringID, which has an active daily user base of over 20 million. This increases brand loyalty, recognition, and engagement.
Why is Social Commerce Growing So Rapidly?
Social commerce is expanding because social media is on the rise. New apps and platforms are developed and released every day to draw in new users. As businesses and users experiment with their options, social commerce grows and changes with them. According to new research from Accenture, social commerce will continue to expand more than traditional e-commerce. Traditional e-commerce is estimated to continue growing at 3-4% per year whereas social commerce is expected to grow at 7.5% per year over the next decade.
What are the Potential Implications of this Growth?
While the traditional methods of Internet commerce are still the biggest source of online sales, social commerce will continue to expand.Experts predict that this growth will continue to accelerate when including several factors that may impact or drive sales:
- Higher consumer expectations for more personal experiences
- Faster brand and/or product recognition through online channels
- Easier product accessibility through social media channels across various mobile devices
- More affluent consumers using social media for purchases and reviews, thereby boosting search results for comparative shopping and product recommendations.
Social commerce could provide significant benefits for retailers and brands alike by allowing users to:
- Make smarter, faster purchases.
- Find deals for the products they love.
- Easily share their experiences with brands or products.
- Form a community based around the brands or products they enjoy.
Because of this, retailers can focus on building relationships with customers all while gaining valuable feedback and keeping their margins intact.
How Can Businesses Capitalize on Social Commerce?
Social commerce is a vast field that offers multiple avenues for success. With ringID, businesses with polished marketing strategies can choose between one or multiple ways to maximize their profits and increase user engagement. Some aspects to social commerce to think about include:
User-generated content: Where users create lists of their most wanted products and share them with others, who can then make purchases from said list.
Influencer marketing: Where users with large followings and high engagement can drive sales to a product through promotional content.
Community marketing: Where users post products up for sale at a fixed price; some platforms even allow interested buyers to auction for desired products.
Subscription services: Where users subscribe to services they want, such as online entertainment or art products, and pay a set fee on an ongoing basis.
These are but a few of the multiple new channels businesses can use to engage with consumers. RingID is an all-in-one platform that allows businesses to safely explore these options and more without users having to leave the platform. With these tools readily at hand, businesses can think more creatively and offer something different from traditional e-commerce sites.
Social Commerce Strategy
Besides having experience in traditional e-commerce, it’s prudent to gain experience in social commerce. These are two very different beasts that require different skill sets and approaches for successful implementation.The most important thing to do when developing a social commerce strategy is to understand your company culture first by asking a few fundamental questions:
- What message do your business wish to get across?
- Does it align with how customers interact with the products or services offered?
- What demographic does your business currently appeal to?
- Which social media platforms are your employees familiar with, if any at all?
- Are you trying to expand your client base directly, or is word of mouth more important to you?
- And finally, how can you implement a consistent strategy across all departments?
Many traditional e-commerce companies have come up with creative ways to get their message out either through static messaging on Twitter or through eye-catching videos on YouTube. However, ringID’s numerous features gives businesses a hybrid approach of static posts, easy-to-share videos, and real-time updates and engagements through live streaming.
Unlike its contemporaries, ringID is the next step in social commerce. RingID builds upon the relationship between businesses and consumers, making them more collaborative, and businesses can watch as their sales experience a higher rate of growth by live streaming through Interactive Live or by working together with influencers through the Brand Promoter program.
RingID has an expansive affiliate network where influencers can promote to either their close contacts or their wider fan base and earn a commission from the services or products they drive sales to. Since it all occurs on the app, users can sell and earn through ringID’s built-in Wallet, and businesses can maximize their success on an all-in-one platform.
Though the rapidly expanding market demands that businesses stand out from the crowd, it’s best for your company to assess which methods offer the highest return. Then, and only then, can you commit to creating something unique and truly innovative to find success in the marketplace.
