Selling online has never been so easy. The generation of new consumers are people who make purchase choices impulsively. Increasing the number of points of contact between advertising and Internet users seems to be necessary if brands are to increase product sales.
The pandemic has only strengthened the hypothesis, which has been circulating for a long time, that online sales may soon replace traditional sales channels. Important elements that eCommerce consumers are increasingly paying attention to are the ability to make quick returns and complaints, and a shortened purchase process that takes place in 2-4 steps at most. It's hard not to notice that purchases made through social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are becoming increasingly popular. Brands are not only trying to outdo the competition with new offers, but to gain new customers through innovative advertising methods.
So let's see how sales are performing on the most popular social media platforms and what brands have to offer when it comes to online shopping.
Facebook, following the experience of introducing its Marketplace aimed at selling and buying between users of the portal, also noticed an opportunity for a new e-commerce tool. By extending the functionality of its existing Marketplace sales platform, Facebook is entering the market with Facebook Shops designed to completely replace its predecessor.
Facebook's latest initiative is designed to allow small and medium-sized businesses to create their own online stores directly on Facebook and Instagram for free. The new tool enables the entire shopping process without leaving the app. What's more, Facebook e-shops will not only be used to generate new purchases, but will provide the ability to communicate with customers organically and by paid search in all existing forms.
Instagram - currently the most popular app amongst generation Y is also not left behind when it comes to online sales. Starting off as a 100% visually-oriented platform, Instagram is becoming a place where brands have the ability to not only showcase their product catalogs, but run active advertising campaigns with the ability to make purchases through the app.
So what exactly does shopping via Instagram consist of? When browsing the feed, you will notice a "small shopping bag" icon in the upper right corner. This means that such a post has a tag with products that we can purchase. As for Instagram Stories, products available for purchase are marked with a special sticker. When we click on the tag, or sticker, we go to the product card and then to the brand's store, where our purchases are finalized. Instagram is currently in the process of testing a new solution - Instagram Checkout, thanks to which the entire purchase process will take place directly in the app, without going through the entire transaction process.
Źródło: https://about.fb.com/news/2020/05/introducing-facebook-shops/
Pinterest has been trying to conquer the eCommerce market for quite some time now. So far, the platform has served as a source of inspiration for users. Previously, when users saw items on Pinterest that they wanted to purchase, they had to search the internet on their own in the hunt for their "prey". Pinterest has finally solved this problem! For now, as a pilotage, for users of the app in the United States on Apple devices, the platform has introduced so-called Buyable Pins. As you can guess from the term, these are small (blue) icons that are placed next to a specific product to signify the possibility of buying it. Next to the regular "Pin it" button appears a blue "Buy it" button, which when clicked gives us the possibility to buy a desired product. And so we can find here a wide selection of furniture, clothing and other items related to everyday life, which can be easily purchased within the app. Pinterest has also introduced an option to filter products by price, so that we can easily find cheaper alternatives of the desired items.
One of the most important determinants of change and a trend in the eCommerce industry is undoubtedly the automation of communication and customer service processes. Reducing the waiting time for consultants and the possibility of completing the sales process or service with a bot substituting contact with a real employee is becoming an increasingly popular solution used by many brands.
It is certain that the way we shop may change 180 degrees in the near future. It is therefore worth keeping track of the changes and opportunities offered by social networking sites for online shopping. Who knows when such sales will completely replace traditional stores.
