Social Commerce - is it profitable selling through social media?

4.2 billion active users worldwide and more than 27 million users in Poland. What's behind these numbers? We are talking about social media users, who constitute the most numerous and engaged group on the Internet. The potential guaranteed by social media is being used more and more actively by companies operating in various industries, and the trend for social commerce is taking the world of eCommerce by storm.

Social commerce means selling using social media. It has long been considered standard to operate using these channels to conduct advertising campaigns, but increasingly entrepreneurs are also opting for real sales. The pandemic, which strongly influenced the shopping habits of consumers, undeniably contributed to this revolution. During the lockdown, Poles increased their level of purchases through virtual profiles by more than 20%. What makes Facebook such an attractive medium for entrepreneurs? Will Tiktok become a leader in sales issues as well? Will social commerce completely displace traditional online stores? You will learn about all this in our article - maybe you will use the information you received in your e-business?

Why are we so eager to buy on social media?

Our closest circle of friends, the career of our favorite artist, reports from holidays or previews of new TV series - we like to watch what interests and pleases us, especially from our phone, which we always have at hand. Social media brings with it a certain comfort that can be successfully used in building sales strategies. This is a unique opportunity to strengthen long-term customer relationships and build active communities. After all, platforms offer tools with which it is possible to strengthen brand awareness in a natural way and virtually unnoticed by the recipient. Companies successfully use them, for example, by creating thematic groups, collecting opinions and comments or preparing sponsored creations.

Tools useful in social commerce development
personalized advertising - the opportunity to use a rich catalog of advertising options for your online store (sponsored posts, testimonials, videos)
innovative solutions - modern ways of transacting offered exclusively by the social media in question, such as Instagram Drops or TikTok brandtakover.
live shopping - an additional way to increase sales
Business profile (e.g. Meta Business Suite) - the ability to track the performance of your online store on a regular basis
chatbot - a simple way to communicate with social media users

Social media shopping - advantages

Where can we check so well how an item will perform at home, if not on Instagram? The best confirmation of a product's quality will come from our Facebook friends, and the latest trends will be found most quickly on Tiktok. Social media reigns supreme in terms of orientation to visual content and aesthetics. The ability to present a product well stimulates purchasing needs, and this is directly related to increased sales. What are the other benefits of social media shopping?

• Saving time

It is estimated that social media users are online for as much as 2 hours and 25 minutes a day on average. Social commerce provides an opportunity to use these moments for shopping. Saving time - along with making transactions efficiently - is therefore one of the reasons that most encourage people to implement this form of shopping into their sales efforts.

• Access to a wide range of products

From jackets and coats through oriental snacks to the latest electronic equipment. An undeniable advantage of social commerce is the variety of offerings available on social networks. Although the biggest growth in social media sales has been within fashion & beauty, on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter we can find products from almost every category.

• Wide audience

Are you planning a vacation by the sea, and all you see on your board are ads for ski equipment? Don't drink coffee, and Instagram keeps recommending new cafes in the area? Sports have never been your passion, yet you come across coverage of soccer matches everywhere? Social media developers are well aware that such content negatively affects traffic to their sites, so they continue to improve their algorithms. Sponsored content is created to reach as many people as possible who fit the profile of the activity in question - both directly and indirectly.

• Low entry costs

The low cost of entry into the social commerce world is also encouraging. According to a report prepared by the Women's e-Business Foundation, as many as 44% of respondents said that this was the feature that encouraged them to sell via social networks. In what exactly does the cost-effectiveness of this solution manifest itself? Among the reasons cited are the lack of need to create an e-store, as well as the acceptable cost of reaching customers. This form is often an excellent solution for local businesses that, having limited options, want to start their own business in a simple way.

What sales channels will work best for your social commerce?

The largest social media are outdoing themselves in improving their sales support solutions. Nowadays, we will do our shopping not only in Facebook Marketplace or Instagram Shops anymore - we can more and more boldly use sales features on Twitter or Tiktok. What features offered by each service can prove useful for your eCommerce?

Facebook - the beginnings of social commerce

The year 2017 - that's when Facebook Marketplace officially appeared in Poland. Even before that, users were already conducting sales activities on this portal, creating offer posts and including links that took them to external eCommerce sites. However, it is the Marketplace that has contributed to the significant popularization and simplification of transactions. Mark Zuckerberg's solution has paved the way for competitors to act.

Facebook marketplace is an intuitive service - to get unlimited access to posted announcements, all you need is an account on the site. The word " announcements" was used intentionally, as many still treat Facebook as just a bulletin board. It is claimed that the platform does not supervise the sales process, resulting in problems with payment, shipping or possible returns. However, it allows savings (no fees or commissions), which is an incredible advantage for small, local businesses - and it is their representatives who are Facebook's main target.

Instagram Shop

Instagram is used by more than 500 million people, with more than 50% of them following at least one business profile. Sounds like the perfect place to develop social commerce, right? Social media users tend to make decisions quickly and intuitively - so it makes sense to make their purchase path as short as possible. The Instagram Shops feature, which gives you the opportunity to integrate a catalog of your own products directly into your brand's profile, can be helpful in this regard. In this way, a potential customer has the chance to get acquainted with the product through posts and testimonials, as well as a dedicated "store" tab. To make a purchase, simply click on the shopping cart icon on the photo, which will take the interested party to a panel that allows purchase."

Instagram is used by more than 500 million people, with more than 50% of them following at least one business profile. Sounds like the perfect place to develop social commerce, right? Social media users tend to make decisions quickly and intuitively - so it makes sense to make their purchase path as short as possible. The Instagram Shops feature, which gives you the opportunity to integrate a catalog of your own products directly into your brand's profile, can be helpful in this regard. In this way, a potential customer has the chance to get acquainted with the product through posts and testimonials, as well as a dedicated "store" tab. To make a purchase, simply click on the shopping cart icon on the photo, which will take the interested party to a panel that allows purchase.

Twitter Shop Spotlight

Twitter is also struggling to strengthen its position among social sales channels. Twitter Shop Spotlight is an attempt to combine sales opportunities with the way of communication that are the essence of the platform. After all, Twitter is an endless field of discussion - it's where the latest news appears, and users share real information and opinions about the products they are interested in. So why not give them the opportunity to buy right away? This was the assumption that the service's creators came up with when they created Spotlight.

Spotlight is a separate space in company profiles where it is possible to provide information about a product and its price, and a potential customer can conveniently browse a catalog of goods in the form of a carousel. However, the ability to make a purchase in this way is not yet widely available - it has only gone to US users using iOS. However, the creators announce that the current version is only a prelude to a larger concept.

TikTok

The discussed trend must have also reached TikTok - Generation Z's favorite app for publishing short content, which is becoming increasingly attractive to businesses. There is already an option for advertising campaigns and the so-called brandtakover, which is a 5-second, full-screen creative or video that appears to all users when they launch the app.

Moreover, work is underway to launch a separate store tab. This solution is already in operation in China (the country where the app was born), as well as in other parts of Asia, and is currently being tested in the UK, among others. The tab is distinguished by the ability to collect discount coupons. In addition, the site is designed to track the entire order process.

TikTok also plans to introduce live sales options. All indications are that such activities could prove to be a competitive challenge for Meta.

Momentary trend or direction of development? On the future of social commerce

Currently, social commerce only supports traditional eCommerce. Although social media sales are characterized by a wide catalog of advantages, it also has to face many challenges. What makes this area still insufficient to fully compete with the already well-known solutions?

• Lack of detailed legal regulations

Vendors primarily draw attention to the need to develop sales rules. There is a lack of regulations on aspects such as returns or complaints, among others, and in particular it is necessary to systematize consumer protection regulations. This is confirmed, for example, by the problem recently faced by the Vinted website.

• Focus on cooperation with social networks

The terms of cooperation also need to be refined. Solutions developed directly by social networks are expected, which would positively affect logistics services (e.g. agreements with courier companies or insurance companies).

• Strong competition in the eCommerce industry

The multitude of platforms, specific ways of promotion and ever-changing online trends mean that effectively promoting a business requires an ever-increasing budget. The crisis in customer acquisition may particularly affect smaller entrepreneurs, for whom social media was until recently an opportunity to stand out in the market.

• Growing needs of social media users

Customers count on innovative approaches to product presentation. They also often expect the introduction of modern payment methods and integration with other sales channels.

All indications are that in order to run successful social commerce, a comprehensive service requiring both technological skills, marketing or even legal knowledge will be necessary.

Harness the potential of social commerce

Social commerce still carries a huge amount of potential. It guarantees the possibility to be "up to date" and quickly use the latest solutions without overburdening the budget. To convince yourself of this, it is enough to analyze, for example, how this type of sales has developed in the United States. In Poland, admittedly, this form is just gaining popularity, but thriving companies treat social commerce as an integral part of their strategy. It is worth considering its introduction to your eCommerce as well. The key to success may just be the mere development of a comprehensive, long-term strategy. Social media, thanks to its capabilities, will help to simply personalize individual needs, and further - to track results and achievements.

It's like - ready to breakthrough and gain popularity with social commerce?