Is 2023 The Year Of Social Commerce?

Is 2023 the year of social commerce? Many increasingly think so, with Insider Intelligence alone predicting revenue in the US of $69bn, which is +30% growth from 2022.

TikTok is driving the optimism, as the number of buyers grew?72% in 2022?–?or 23m. Indeed, this meant that TikTok overtook Pinterest's results for the first time.

The reason is down to the overwhelming number of influencers on that platform. Influencers inspire purchases across generations, but none more so than Gen Z,?48% of whom in the US claim they discovered a new product through an influencer interaction.

What is interesting is that at the same time, Meta (the company formally known as Facebook) is pulling back. It has already scrapped live shopping on Facebook and will remove the Instagram 'Shop' tab from February. Whilst consumers will still be able to buy via the Feed, in Stories, from Reels or ads, this is a big decision, not least as Meta was leading the pack in social commerce not?that?long ago. (The logic is, in part, due to a renewed focus on ad revenues, which have declined following Apple's data blocking.)

Unlike China, where social commerce adoption has been boosted by the 'Super Apps', which contain the entire consumer journey on one platform, the US and other western markets offer a more fragmented experience. If revenue is to truly hit $107bn by 2025 surely all players within the space should look to make the consumer experience quicker and more prone to impulse purchase. Indeed, with TikTok seemingly looking into fulfillment centres, maybe they see the opportunity to manage more elements of the supply chain than just awareness.

Never has access to brands been so tailored, with the distance between inspiration and conversion as truncated. Social commerce is here to stay, but not necessarily solely in its current form.

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#SocialCommerce #TikTok #Pinterest #Meta #Instagram #Retail #Commerce