With the onset of coronavirus, it has become very difficult for all of us to stay in touch with each other. It has been one of the biggest problems that we are facing right now in this coronavirus situation. Everyone is enclosed within their own private space. We all have lost our freedom to go wherever we want to and buy whatever we want. Now we all think before touching anything. But in spite of all this, social networks have been a life saver for many of us by reducing our social distance virtually. They have also started to grab this business opportunity by providing us shopping options as they have millions of users and mainly youngsters. Most importantly it allows the youngsters to be the potential buyers of their favourite products or products which they like, directly on the platform itself and this particular form of business model is called as social commerce.
This type of model has become quite popular as young people among themselves do exchange information about anything new which they see online and can sometimes compel others to buy a particular thing as that may have some advantages or new features. For the companies it provides a universal channel for providing shopping experience to the customers and allowing them to shop at a faster pace with the help of cashless transactions. Now it is very possible that social media platforms may develop in-app ecommerce capability.
Handheld devices playing a role
People are now believing that social media helps them to make a better shopping decision. 40% of businesses use this platform to generate business opportunities. Social media sites are now mainly mobile friendly and users are expecting them to be more mobile friendly so they can easily buy products on mobile devices with ease.
As we are moving forward with time, so are the social media platforms. TikTok for example has started to introduce social commerce, by allowing some users to add links within their bio for their products.
Influencers making an impact
Popular personalities like movie stars and sport stars are playing a vital role in increasing the popularity of social commerce. They are being followed across all major platforms as a result people constantly look up to them for advices regarding which products is better in overall value.
New options available
Recently, social media platforms like Facebook Collections and Instagram Shopping have provided the option to buy online. Pinterest has also introduced an option “Try On”, which uses AR lens to allow people to try new makeup from different brands and then buy product which ever they like easily.
Challenges
It is also true that there are people who are not very accustomed with this trend of social media. There are still people for whom all these technologies related stuff is new and so they are hesitant before making a purchase. This hesitation must be taken care of in the near future. By providing people with information regarding security and online transaction, this challenge can be reduced to some extent. This will also help the company in creating good brand image and become more trustworthy.
Another challenge is competition. E- commerce giants like Amazon are in no mood to give up their reputation and position of being one of the most popular sites on the planet for purchasing anything to everything. On the other hand, Instagram is constantly gaining momentum in becoming a major social commerce player. But there is difference between the two platforms in terms of shopping experience as Amazon is a purely e-commerce site and Instagram is a social media giant. A person first sees a product then he looks for it on the internet and then purchases it. This model of business has been successfully implemented by Amazon along with a wide range of products and fast delivery. On the other hand, Instagram gives its user the option of clicking on the product itself and then buy it. This way Instagram is gaining a bit.
Help by an increase in screen time
The number of minutes we are spending online is increasing day by day. In the last few years, we are investing more time on social networking sites. So, social commerce has a factor of shopping along with entertainment attached with it. Comparatively the time which we spent on Amazon is lot lesser than on Instagram. Therefore, buying products on social media platform is more enjoyable. Also, the modern lifestyle pattern of the newer millennial generation is a lot more different than the previous generations as they are more active online when compared to other generations.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that newer generations are the major driving force for any new trend in today’s world. Along with wider reach and huge advertising opportunity, it will most likely have a bright future. Even if social commerce requires some country related study as it will have different impact in different countries, the gradual change in the way in which users access the internet nowadays has also started to help this cause as now we are more comfortable with our smart devices. Nonetheless, if the question arises that which website is more preferable for online shopping, then most probably the answer which we will get would be Amazon. As Amazon, has already made a name for itself in terms of online shopping with the help of a humongous number of sellers along with its own warehouse, it will be difficult for social media platforms to be a major in this space as people will prefer them less.
As a result, it is the sole responsibility of the companies to define that what they are actually up to. More elaborately, it is up to them to make us understand their main field of business or interest. When all these points of conflict will disappear, then it will be easier for social commerce to prevail with some help of aggressive expansion. The expansion will then result in development of a society or country. This will also improve our future in a big way.