Growth of Social Commerce in the Creator Economy
Mar 31st, 2022 by Talius ChickeringThe Creator Economy and the world of ecommerce hurdles forward at a breakneck pace. Almost everyday there seems to be some new social trend, app update, platform release, or cross channel integration that allows anyone to create content in an instant, and then monetize this content for explosive growth. Social media has launched a new wave of entrepreneurs and creators that use their creative content, coupled with social media, to launch their own empires. This usage of social platforms to monetize content and sell physical goods is known as social commerce. Social commerce is a rapidly growing form of ecommerce that allows users of social apps to make purchase decisions without ever having to leave the social platform. Social commerce is still relatively new, but has recently seen immense growth due to the way it allows the personal, intimate, connected format of social media to be intertwined with actual purchases.
Accenture predicts that “the social commerce opportunity will nearly triple by 2025. Globally, sales made through social commerce in 2021 are expected to reach $492 billion. Growing at a CAGR of 26%, the social commerce opportunity will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025”
This is a truly immense market, and with the majority of social commerce purchases being completed by Gen Z and Millenials, the market will only continue to grow as digital natives continue to adopt this new way of buying and selling.
But what exactly does social commerce look like? Let’s take a closer look at how the largest social commerce platforms approach this new form of ecommerce.
When many think of social commerce, the first thing that comes to mind is Facebook Marketplace. Facebook is one of the largest social commerce platforms today, and provides many opportunities for businesses large and small, as well as individuals who want to casually sell any type of item. For businesses, Facebook allows you to create a Facebook shop - which is essentially a virtual storefront that users can navigate and purchase directly from. This virtual storefront allows the business to track inventory, orders, and even provide customer support.
For non-businesses, Facebook allows any user to list an item for sale on Facebook marketplace. This is the perfect way to buy and sell used goods, hand crafted items, or any other type of product, without having to set up a full blown business. The entire process to sell or buy any item is very clear and straightforward, making this the most accessible option for anyone looking to break into the world of social commerce.
Instagram’s social commerce feature is tied directly to your Facebook Shop, which is extremely convenient for businesses that want to use both Facebook and Instagram to sell simultaneously. This connection allows businesses to track sales from both platforms in one place, which makes keeping track of cumulative orders a breeze.
What makes Instagram’s shopping feature so effective, is that it allows businesses to tag specific products that appear in images, that when clicked, take you directly to that product on the Instagram shopping page. This feature has made the experience extremely streamlined, and opens up so many new opportunities for influencer and affiliate marketing. If a user sees an aesthetic piece of clothing, or an incredible new product that a brand influencer posts, they can now purchase it with just a few clicks.
Instagram has also recently solidified their emphasis on social commerce by adding a shopping icon to their main lower menu. This shopping page allows you to scroll through products that have appeared in your feed. This feature makes it even easier for buyers and indicates that social commerce is only going to become more prevalent in for social platforms going forward.
As many of you know, Pinterest positions itself as a social platform that is a place for people to find inspiration about any topic, be it fashion, lifestyle, home decor, design, etc. As such, it is natural that Pinterest has moved into the social commerce world, allowing users to purchase products in a more streamlined manner after they are inspired by them on Pinterest. The Pinterest social commerce platform is not as developed as the Facebook/Instagram experience, but will most likely gradually increase as social commerce accounts for a greater portion of overall sales.
On Pinterest, the in-platform shopping feature is not yet available for all users. For the users who have access to this feature, you will see a Buy button below a pin, allowing you to purchase that item within Pinterest. Some product Pins will also redirect you to the sellers website rather than keeping the experience on the platform.
TikTok
TikTok is the latest major social platform to enter the social commerce space, but with TikTok’s explosive growth you can be sure that the platform will become a seriously lucrative option for companies and influencers. Until recently, those interested in purchasing something they saw on TikTok would have had to diligently search the web in order to first discover what the product was that they saw. However, TikTok has recently partnered with Shopify, PrestaShop, Square, BigCommerce, and Ecwid Ecommerce, which will allow businesses to connect their existing sales platform to TikTok. These integrations, as well as a suite of features that include product links and live shopping will allow businesses to begin to capitalize off the massive influence TikTok has, especially over younger buyers.
Issuu and Social Commerce
As a platform that helps transform your content, Issuu falls directly in the center of marketing technology tools, creative tools, content storage, web presence tools, and social channels. This makes it the perfect platform to implement when working to optimize your eCommerce and social commerce content. With our social sharing features, Issuu can help you optimize your social media content in order to increase engagement, and ultimately sales via any of these social media platforms. If you are a business of any size, using Issuu to generate social content in minutes will help you not only save time but also increase sales. Simply upload your long-form content to Issuu to create a unique digital experience, and then share additional social assets that will help capture the attention of your audience and boost revenue.
