Social commerce refers to the use of social media platforms to facilitate buying and selling of goods and services. It involves the integration of social media and e-commerce to create a seamless shopping experience for consumers.
Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that includes social media and online media that promotes social interaction and user contributions to aid in the online purchase and sale of goods and services. To put it another way, social commerce is the use of social networks in the context of e-commerce transactions, from browsing to checkout, without ever leaving a social media platform.
Yahoo! coined the term “social commerce” in November 2005 to describe a set of online collaborative shopping tools such as shared shopping lists, user ratings, and other user-generated content-sharing of online product information and advice.
The goal of social commerce is to make online shopping more social and interactive, as customers can browse products, read reviews, ask questions, and make purchases all within a social media platform. This can lead to a more personalized shopping experience and can help businesses build stronger relationships with their customers. Social commerce can take many forms, including:
- Social media marketplaces – where users can buy and sell products directly within a social media platform.
- Social media storefronts – where businesses can create online storefronts on social media platforms to showcase their products and facilitate transactions.
- Social media advertising – where businesses can target their advertising to specific audiences on social media platforms, increasing the likelihood of making a sale.
- Social media influencers – where businesses can collaborate with social media influencers to promote their products to a large audience.
Social commerce has become increasingly popular in recent years, as social media platforms have become an integral part of many people’s lives. It offers businesses a way to reach a wider audience, increase brand awareness, and drive sales.
David Beisel coined the term “social commerce” to describe user-generated advertorial content on e-commerce sites, and Steve Rubel expanded it to include collaborative e-commerce tools that allow shoppers “to get advice from trusted individuals, find goods and services, and then purchase them.” It has been discovered that the social networks that spread this advice increase the customer’s trust in one retailer over another.
Social commerce is becoming increasingly popular as social media usage continues to grow and more businesses seek to capitalize on the opportunities presented by social media. Social commerce can benefit both businesses and consumers, as it can lead to increased sales and customer engagement, while also providing consumers with a convenient and social way to shop.
