Social Commerce

Whether we like it or not, we are in the age that is ruled by the internet and most especially social media. Nowadays, everything runs through social media, news, information, entertainment and so on. It is, therefore, no surprise that social media has found relevance in commerce and business in the form of social commerce or s-commerce. Social commerce refers to the use of online social networks to propagate trading and other commercial activities. These social networks like Twitter and Facebook are not necessarily used as platforms for buying and selling, but they assist the process and help to drive sales.

One could say that Yahoo created the buzz on social commerce when they allowed shoppers get support and advice online from experts about different transactions as early as in 2005. Shopping has always been a social exercise, with shoppers going shopping with friends and family to pass the time. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before social media and shopping were tangled together. The advent of smart mobile devices has also helped to move this union along, as businesses can now target their customers where they spend most of their time.

Mashable has provided a rundown of the different Social Commerce types on the web. Here are the seven Social Commerce species listed on the site:

• Peer-to-peer sales platforms (eBay, Etsy, Amazon Marketplace) 
• Social network-driven sales (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter) 
• Group buying (Groupon, LivingSocial) 
• Peer recommendations (Amazon, Yelp, JustBoughtIt) 
• User-curated shopping (The Fancy, Lyst, Svpply) 
• Participatory commerce (Threadless, Kickstarter, CutOnYourBias) 
• Social shopping (Motilo, Fashism, GoTryItOn

There are three major social media sites in social commerce: Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Facebook is one of the oldest and most prominent social media sites around today, and no social commerce discussion is complete without someone mentioning it. When it comes to the size of the audience and revenue, no platform beats Facebook. Facebook allows you to upload your product information online, manage orders from your clients, run ads on your page to promote products sales, and you can make sales directly on your page.

Twitter has also provided a platform to advertise and sell your products, especially with the “buy” button that you can include to your product, so your customers can buy directly from your page. The promoted tweets also make things a lot easier for you, as they help you expand your audience, so your product will circulate better among like-minded shoppers. Just like Facebook, a customer’s payment information is stored, so the customer doesn’t need to enter the details repeatedly, giving the customer a pleasant shopping experience.

Pinterest boasts the highest average order value among all the social media sites, making it an excellent choice for business owners. The impressive thing about Pinterest is the fact that most of its contents are original. You should focus a lot on how you visually represent your product on Pinterest as it can directly affect how successful the product is on the platform.

S-commerce is an excellent strategy that should be adopted by any ambitious retailer because it takes your products farther than most other marketing strategies.