The Changing Face of Social Commerce Market 2021

~How the market scenario is developing for online shopping~

With a growing advancement across business verticals in India, one which has notably caught the light of the day is Social Commerce. As per studies, 70% of youth of this country relies heavily on social content and platforms to shop, giving social commerce an advantage over e-commerce.

The Age of Disruption

When the (ongoing) global pandemic struck, businesses across nations were caught off-guard. Since physical operations had to be curbed, businesses began focussing on building a strong presence online to stir the interests of shoppers and target new customers to regain and maintain traction. With the might of social media and the power of e-commerce, the marketing scenario of 2021 for Social Commerce is expected to see upward growth.

The Ascent of Online Shopping

New age concerns have called for immediate attention and action of retailers. Pre pandemic, online shopping caught the fancy of customers with only just the brand’s collection going digital. But recently, with physical shopping being unavailable, the advancement by brand retailers has been massive. From online trial rooms to shop tours to diversity in choices to suggested choices and even the availability of online executives to assist with shopping concerns has made shopping online a completely fulfilling experience.

Now that even traditional brick and mortar stores are pivoting towards online sales, Social Commerce is an innovative substitute for brands to engage and connect with their audiences. All major social media platforms have developed e-commerce capabilities, from Pinterest catalogs to Facebook & Instagram shops. In May 2020 facebook shops announced that retailers can set up full-fledged storefronts on their Facebook Business pages. The growth of Social commerce is directly proportional to the growth of Social Media. And 2021 looks to welcome more growth in the sector of Social Commerce, with both e-commerce and brick and mortar retailers adopting it.

The scintillating affair of AI and Social Commerce

With even traditional stores pivoting towards going Online sales, Social Commerce is an innovative substitute for brands to engage and connect with their audiences. And to keep them engaged, renowned names in the industry are collaborating and forming associations to develop new features that resonate with the current requirements and cater to the patrons’ demands.

An exciting feature that is gaining traction is AI. Artificial Intelligence plays a crucial role in the current situation especially, by putting out brand-tagged user-generated content, recognizing and tagging an item to its brand, presenting suggested choices, amongst others which helps customers make informed, smarter buying decisions.

Paving the path ahead

As mentioned previously, user-generated content is highly beneficial for Social Commerce. It requires a user to express and share their experience with a product across Social Media platforms. By this, a brand’s social reach is magnified with every share, resulting in higher engagement and reshare value.

Brands are strategizing their plans in a way to leverage this to their advantage by using loyal customers to drive sales without much spend on Marketing & Advertising. In fact, brands partner with users across social media platforms with a good reach and followership to get their followers to ‘pin’ their products.

These ‘shoppable pins’ enable conversions from viewing to buying. This is setting the tone for the times to come, further solidifying the future growth for Social Commerce in India.

Authored by – Neha Suyal, CTO & COO, Woovly