Using Social Commerce Tools for Your eCommerce Business

What Is Social Commerce? 

There's a thousand ways to sell something online these days - you have Shopify, Etsy, eBay, WooCommerce and countless other platforms. And eCommerce is growing everyday, increasingly outpacing traditional retail options. And one of the very best ways to sell products online in 2021 is through the effective use of Social Commerce. Social Commerce is a subset of eCommerce where the buying and selling of goods or services happen directly on a social media platform such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or TikTok for example. Social Commerce is a method of selling products online that attempts to remove as many drop-off points, or cart abandonment opportunities, as possible. By never forcing an online consumer to leave the social media app they're using to complete a purchase, you keep them focused on the sale. Online sellers that effectively utilize Social Commerce tools and advertise their Shopify stores on social media are now able to have the full purchase process take place right there on the social media platform - and the ones that do it right are seeing their sales skyrocket due to the easy, fast, and accessible user experience. Let's take a look at the Social Commerce user experience process:

Why Effective Use of Social Commerce Boosts Online Sales

So, we know Social Commerce lets consumers access eCommerce products directly from their favorite social media platforms, and we know they take the consumer through the purchase process from start to finish. But let's talk about the real magic behind Social Commerce - it never bounces your consumer to a different platform or website.

The fact that you never have to reroute an online shopper and keep their focus on completing the  purchase is one of the single biggest benefits of Social Commerce and the driving factor behind why a good Social Commerce strategy will grow your sales. The less time or opportunity you give a consumer to back out of an online sale, the better - and a slow website load time, a site not optimized for mobile, or too many redirects are some really common reasons for an online consumer to abandon a purchase.

The global social commerce market is estimated at $89.4 billion and is set to reach $604.5 billion by 2027

eCommerce merchants have to account for the fact that In the United States alone 70% of the population has active social media accounts and 91% of US businesses are using social media for marketing purposes. This is an enormous part of the population, and a huge platform for you to grow your online sales. These stats also indicate that your competition is more than likely already utilizing a Social Commerce strategy.

So if you want to compete it's critical that you start making the most of the Social Commerce opportunities at your fingertips. Additionally, COVID-19 accelerated the rise of Social Commerce and the improvement of Social Commerce tools to account for the meteoric rise in online purchases, giving consumers the ability to buy directly on social platforms while quarantined at home. The global social commerce market is estimated at $89.4 billion right now and is set to reach $604.5 billion by 2027, further highlighting the importance of adopting a comprehensive Social Commerce strategy.

Social Commerce Tools for eCommerce Business Owners

To the benefit of eCommerce business owners, Social Commerce tools for maximizing and optimizing and implementing your Social Commerce strategy are getting better every day. In fact, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest all launched new Social Commerce tools in 2020 to help streamline the purchase process from their apps. These new social commerce tools essentially create new digital storefronts that can be accessed natively - From inspiration, to purchasing, to leaving reviews, and receiving post-purchase support, social commerce really checks all the boxes without ever making the online shopper leave their favorite social platform.

 

How to Utilize Social Commerce for Online Stores

For all you small eCommerce business owners out there, it's time you start leveraging Social Commerce to explode your sales and make your Shopify store super profitable! With the ability to market, sell, and provide customer service all in the same place, the growth you will see from utilizing Social Commerce is unmatched. With the ability to give customers a virtual brand experience, small eCom businesses can make themselves stand out from the crowd and compete with larger companies in the industry through effective use of Social Commerce. Social Commerce has also given individuals everywhere the ability to sell anything online and create the brand they have always dreamed of - all you have to do is sign up for a social media account, then begin to grow your following with great content. Once you have your audience, you can begin to sell directly on your platform, giving you the ability to create your business with little upfront cash. 

One of the best parts about developing a Social Commerce strategy for your Shopify or Etsy store is that it is so easy to get started. Facebook and Instagram, two of the most widely used social media platforms, have a super easy sign up process and really low barriers to entry. To get started with Facebook Shops (Facebook's Social Commerce tool) you can set up your totally free virtual storefront and manage it right rom your Facebook business profile. Inventory is easy to upload, you can deliver customer support via Facebook Messenger, and deliver a seamless customer experience. What's even better is that once you set up your Facebook Shop, your Instagram Shop is now finished as well! All you have to do is link your Instagram business account to your Facebook business profile and you're ready to sell. If you aren't utilizing these two easy-to-use Social Commerce tools that give you access to an enormous portion of the world population, then you're missing out on huge revenue channels that your competitors are certainly using. Getting started with Social Commerce tools like Facebook and Instagram is so easy that you can be selling your eCommerce products on your Facebook or Instagram shop within a couple hours, so what are you waiting for?!

Why Social Commerce Works With Online Shoppers

The great thing about Social Commerce and why it's so effective is that it gives businesses around the world the ability to sell exactly where their customers are already browsing without every redirecting them to other websites or apps. By letting the online shopper stay on the social platform they trust, you put the shopper at ease and give them less opportunities to abandon the purchase process. All of these features of Social Commerce drive way more completed checkouts than you have when redirecting online shoppers from Facebook or Instagram to your website.

These days, redirects and those couple of seconds of wait time is more than enough to kill your sale. Instantaneous or one-click purchasing is the preferred option and Social Commerce tools make that more attainable for your online store than ever before. When you think about it, the average person spends 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media a day - this statistic alone should be reason enough for you to start really leveraging the Social Commerce tools you have at your fingertips

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