The Covid 19 pandemic changed the way we shopped forever with social media platforms becoming an increasingly popular choice.
In 2020, global social commerce sales were $560 Billion. This trend has continued to rise and by 2026 it is estimated that the social commerce space could be worth $2.9 Trillion.
The main reason for this is that social platforms allow brands to build a community, a place where people can feel they belong. So now rather than just shopping online, they can feel there are supporting a community lifestyle.
As the age profile of people who have raised on social media platforms (they use them every day of their life since they were young) increases and these people become customers for brands, engaging this audience with storytelling is critical.
Approximately 37% of shoppers ages 15-22 ised the “buy” button on social media, and 30% of these purchased from a shoppable social media story.
Instagram is one of the main choices when it comes to social commerce platforms.
In fact, studies show that 70% of customers look to Instagram to discover a product. 90% of all Instagram users follow at least one business page.
However, it is Facebook who is still dominating the Social Commerce field.
In 2020, Facebook introduced Facebook Shops which allows users to create a single online store that is shoppable from both Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook Shops allows customers to contact businesses via messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct and to make purchases directly from these chats.
An estimated 33% of customers prefer to have a customer service interaction on social media instead of on the phone or via email and this number will continue to grow.
However, 42% of customers who submit a customer service request expect on social media expect a response within an hour and most of these expect an answer within 10 minutes.
Contact me for a Free 30 minute consultation to discuss how social commerce can change your business.