Social Shopping: A Quick Guide to Social CommerceSocial Shopping: A Quick Guide to Social Commerce
Social networks influence many of your actions and you have become so dependent on social networks that you prefer anything related to social networks over those that don’t. Social shopping is one of the most shared shopping experiences on social networks.
What is Social Shopping?
Social shopping is what we get when e-commerce meets social media. Social shopping is a combination of aspects of social networks such as friends, groups, comments, recommendations, discussions, votes, influencers, etc. and shopping experience. It is the use of technology to simulate offline shopping experiences, such as chatting with friends before buying something, taking group money, recommending a product or service to someone, etc.
Startups and even major e-commerce players have been successful in creating a unique interactive shopping experience for their customers. These include:
Group shopping
Groupon has developed its business model to make group purchases and group discounts a new phenomenon in e-commerce. This has led to the launch of many third party buying sites such as BuyWithMe, LivingSocial, etc. These companies have used the power of crowdsourcing to create a better shopping experience for users.
This form of social shopping has evolved into an everyday shopping center that helps users discover and save what to do, see, eat and buy.
Communities
An entrepreneurial community brings together like-minded people. People made these cities for people. They recommend products, help others choose products, find deals for members, and are a one stop shop for all those who are passionate about shopping. The shopping community controls the public shopping area. They include groups on social websites such as Facebook, Pinterest, etc. or well-designed websites like Polyvore, Opensky, etc.
E-commerce and social networking
The purpose of social media websites like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat etc. from shopping to shopping. Many new features are being introduced to make shopping easier on these platforms.
Facebook recently launched a new “product in video/image” feature that connects directly to the advertiser’s e-commerce store and allows people to buy, share, ask friends for recommendations , save for later, etc. . Stories on Snapchat and Instagram allow the user to click up to be taken to the customer’s e-commerce store.
Facebook launched a public marketplace for its users to buy and sell on its platform.
Recommendation engine
Ranking systems on e-commerce websites, influencer blogs, comparison websites, etc. connect buyers and potential customers. These users and reviewers post their experiences and give recommendations on whether to buy a specific product or not. Customers often check these recommendation engines before buying.
Mobile Payments and Billing
To mimic the real offline shopping experience, many e-commerce platforms have partnered with mobile payment companies such as Venmo to provide customers with bill-sharing and mobile payment options.
Social Shopping = Social Media + Shopping
Social shopping, also called collaborative shopping, is an experience that has the following characteristics:
Buying a network
Social shopping connects you with people who have similar interests. It can be your friends, family or any stranger who has a similar interest.
Participant. Not the audience.
You’re participating in a social shopping experience that’s all about you.
Classification of brands
Brands have dedicated themselves to being part of the social media ecosystem. Facebook and Instagram pages, Snapchat and Youtube channels, etc. needs a model to act like a real person, have a specific face, voice and sound. The trademark is part of the user network and vice versa.
Why is social shopping on a rise?
Even before the creation of the Internet, people chose social networks when shopping. The social aspect has made shopping easier and more enjoyable. However, the networking aspect was removed from the beginning of online shopping websites based on the traditional “customers are the audience”.
Today, with the rise of social media, it is possible to mimic the offline social shopping experience. Brands try to make your shopping experience as friendly as possible. Moreover, they have become a more important part of your life than before. You can talk to brands, have experiences with them, and they recommend things for you to buy.
Time and attention are one of your scarcest assets and by having access to such information and resources, you direct them to the places you believe are best. Social shopping takes advantage of customer behavior and captures your attention by including social networking features that you feel are important to your shopping experience.
Every customer wants to talk to the identified buyers of the product before buying it. This has led to the addition of a recommendation/survey to the website. Facebook started this shopping center simply because its users wanted an online store where they could easily contact their friends while shopping.
Group on created its own business model using crowdfunding for group discounts. Influencer marketing is big business today. They influence the purchasing decisions of millions of people. According to a study, 74% of consumers rely on their social networks to make purchasing decisions and 56% of consumers follow brands and social media sites they visit to see products and images to inspire their purchase. Online social networks are more influential in the customer buying process than offline networks. Social marketing is the new revolution that every marketer has been waiting for.