Social commerce and mobile shopping already account for a large portion of overall e-commerce. The future of social commerce and mobile shopping show steep growth for sales via mobile phones and social media shopping. In fact, by 2025, social commerce is set to account for over 42% of all retail e-commerce sales in the United States alone.
You may be leaving money on the table if your site is not optimized for mobile shopping. Additionally, if your social media accounts aren’t using social commerce, you’re missing out on a large portion of potential sales. Let’s find out what the future holds for social and mobile commerce and how you can optimize your online shop to meet customers’ needs.
What is social commerce?
Social commerce is the selling of goods and services through social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok. Social commerce allows social media users to purchase their favorite wares while interacting with their preferred social media app. Many social media apps have built-in shopping features allowing shoppers to complete their entire transaction from start to finish without leaving social media.
Let’s say a shopper sees a jacket they love while browsing an influencer’s page on Instagram. In this social commerce example, the shopper has never interacted with the brand but decides to visit the page tagged on the influencer’s post. The store page has enabled Instagram Shopping, making it easy for the shopper to view and purchase items without ever leaving Instagram. The shopper adds the jacket to their cart, goes through the streamlined checkout process, and within minutes they’ve successfully completed a social commerce purchase. Easy, right?
What are the benefits of social commerce?
1. Reach a larger audience
Your website can only gain so much traffic using traditional SEO methods. An Instagram or TikTok page, however, can easily attract a wide range of customers via witty and engaging videos. This is why content is king when it comes to social commerce. Cleverly created videos utilizing trending audio and relatable content have the potential to reach people who may otherwise never interact with your brand.
2. Increase trust in your brand
From a marketing standpoint, social media is one of the best ways to amplify and increase trust in your brand. Users can share purchases with friends and followers, which is great for brand exposure and overall trust.
3. Receive real-time feedback
Social media users are accustomed to doling out feedback via surveys and questionnaires within their favorite apps. If you’re searching for feedback on a certain product or service, try utilizing features such as Instagram’s polling or question features or invite users to DM with private feedback.
What can statistics tell us about the future of social commerce?
1. Video content is king
Social media sites like TikTok are built for video. Following the success of TikTok, sites like Instagram, YouTube, and even Pinterest have started prioritizing video content as well. Not to mention, shoppers love seeing product videos so they can better understand how the product they’re eyeing performs in real-time.
2. Prioritize live chat
According to a Shopify survey, 43% of consumers polled say they’re likely to use a store’s online chat feature in the next year. That is a huge chunk of the online shopping pool. Not only does live chat help shoppers track and return items, but it also helps consumers answer real-time questions they may have ahead of purchasing a product. Live chat can also put customers’ minds at ease when something goes wrong during the checkout process. If your social commerce strategy doesn’t include a live chat component, consider adding this service. Zimply can help!
3. Invest in influencer marketing
If a potential new customer comes to your page, make it easy for them to view and browse your best-selling pieces and they will be more likely to make a purchase, especially if they’ve come to you via the advice of a trusted friend or influencer. If you run an online shop, don’t sleep on social commerce via influencer marketing.
4. Consider AR features
AR, or augmented reality, is backed by increased support in the mobile shopping world today. Brands like EyeBuyDirect and ASOS use AR to allow customers to try before they buy in a virtual space. AR experiences increase customer interaction with brands and allow customers to get the in-store experience of trying the products, too!
What is mobile commerce?
Mobile commerce, m-commerce, is the buying of goods through a handheld device such as a smartphone or tablet without using a computer. Simply put, anything purchased or sold through a smartphone or another small handheld device fits under the mobile commerce umbrella. These may include purchasing on a mobile browser or virtual marketplace, in-app purchases, and any purchase using a digital wallet such as Apple Pay and Samsung Wallet.
How can brands optimize their shops for mobile commerce?
Make a plan for mobile responsiveness
Site optimization for mobile should start at the development planning stage. Before developers begin work on your online shop, mobile responsiveness should be at the forefront of the discussion. Don’t make responsiveness an afterthought. When more than 70% of Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases were made via mobile last year alone, it’s important that your shop is optimized to meet those customers’ needs both during the busy season and the off-season.
Improve site loading speeds
Did you know that 40% of people abandon a website taking more than 3 seconds to load? If your site is not responding quickly, you’re likely missing out on sales. Work with your development team to make site speeds aren’t an issue, especially for m-commerce buyers.
Simplify checkout
A straightforward checkout process is essential if you plan to increase m-commerce sales. Cart abandonment numbers are high, with nearly 70% of e-commerce shoppers abandoning their cart at some point during the transaction. A cumbersome checkout process only exacerbates these numbers. If you can simplify any part of your checkout process, do so immediately!
What is in store for the future of mobile commerce?
In 2021, mobile commerce sales accounted for a whopping $359.32 billion in sales and saw a 15% increase over the previous year, 2020. That number is expected to more than double by 2025 as phone traffic continues to outpace desktop traffic. If your marketing plan does not include a mobile commerce strategy, perhaps it’s time to consider one. Online brands that prioritize customer needs by ensuring quick site loading, responsiveness, and a simplified checkout process are more likely to make mobile commerce sales.
If you need assistance responding to customer queries via social media and email, look no further than the Zimply tool. Zimply allows marketers to focus on things like page responsiveness, mobile shopping friendliness and setting up your social commerce shop by taking the guesswork out of customer communication. Collate customer queries, shipping questions, and product feedback into one easy-to-use dashboard using Zimply. Reach out today for a demo.