[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","name":"What is social commerce? Everything you need to know","headline":"What is social commerce? Everything you need to know","about":["http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q202833","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"],"dateModified":"2021-04-12T16:52:00Z","datePublished":"2021-01-12T17:19:00Z","description":"Social commerce is the use of a social platform for e-commerce sales, and it's huge: By 2027, it's projected to drive $604 billion in sales.","author":{"@type":"Person","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/joanne-laing\/","name":"Joanne Laing","description":"Joanne Laing is a Senior Product Owner, for SAP Upscale Commerce. With a background in digital commerce, Joanne is passionate about product innovation and collaborating across teams, to help deliver a customer centric product strategy.","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/joanne-laing\/"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/FCEE099_SocialCommerce_HB-1200x630.jpg","height":"630","width":"1200","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/FCEE099_SocialCommerce_HB-1200x630.jpg"},"hasPart":{"@type":"FAQPage","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/","name":"What is social commerce? Everything you need to know","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","width":"500","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"datePublished":"2021-01-12","about":["http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q202833","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce"],"mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is social commerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","name":"What is social commerce? Answer","text":"

Social commerce is the use of a social network community to drive e-commerce sales, and it\u2019s a massive market: By 2027, it\u2019s projected<\/a> that social commerce will drive $604 billion in sales. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have both dedicated \u201cbuy now\u201d indicators on ads, as well as live streams run by influencers that are resulting in e-commerce goods being sold out on the regular.<\/p>

Social commerce has been a game-changer for smaller brands, allowing them to easily compete in crowded marketplaces. However, now big retailers are hopping on board. For example, Walmart plans to start selling their products via influencers directly on TikTok in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>

As you might have guessed, social commerce grew tremendously<\/a> in 2020: \u201cAmid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Social Commerce estimated at US$89.4 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$604.5 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 31.4% over the analysis period 2020-2027.\u201d<\/p>","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Answer"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Question"},{"@type":"Question","name":"So, what\u2019s the difference between social media marketing and social commerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

At a high-level, here\u2019s the difference between social media marketing and social commerce:<\/p>

Social media marketing<\/strong> is used by brands to drive traffic to their websites. Brands will post ads showcasing their products and\/or services, and include a CTA (call to action), for consumers to click-through to the website.<\/p>

The cost of such ads is usually based on the number of likely impressions the ad will gain and\/or a cost-per-click (CPC,  although that\u2019s more commonly used in search engine paid ads, like Google). But, this cost is factored into that all important CPA (cost per acquisition), and ultimately takes the consumer out of their social media journey.<\/p>

Social commerce<\/strong> allows consumers to purchase products and services from a brand directly, from within the social commerce platform. This could be via either clicking on a paid ad (like the above), or by clicking on the \u201cView Shop\u201d CTA on the brand\u2019s social media profile (page).<\/p>","name":"So, what\u2019s the difference between social media marketing and social commerce? Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Answer1"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Question1"},{"@type":"Question","name":"So, what comes next in social commerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"

It goes without saying, that as consumer behaviors surrounding e-commerce and social commerce rapidly evolve, so will a new wealth of data and opportunity, allowing brands to understand even more about their existing and potential audiences.<\/p>

Here are several items about social commerce to watch and understand:<\/strong><\/p>

  1. Brands will need to embrace an end-to-end commerce strategy, supporting consumers in the buying lifecycle, and bringing relevancy from browsing to post-sales support.<\/li>
  2. Using brand data across all digital touch points allows for better interactions with consumers.<\/li>
  3. Personalization allows brands to present products and services that are of greatest interest to consumers specifically, at the right time and place, without causing annoyance or disruption to their social or onsite experience.<\/li>
  4. Providing consumers with even more relevant experiences can help better optimize marketing spend, with clear and measurable strategies to utilize both paid and organic activity, further supporting brands to prioritize cash preservation and overhead costs.<\/li> <\/ol>","name":"So, what comes next in social commerce? Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Answer2"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Question2"}],"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#FAQPage1"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/01\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"What is social commerce? Definition, examples, stats","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]