5 Ways - Win in Social Commerce Era

Although the vast majority of retail purchases are still made in stores, global online sales are on the rise and are expected to represent more than 22% of total retail sales by 2023. In fact, e-commerce is already beginning to outpace sales. In physical stores in some cases. According to a report from the US Department of Commerce, the total market share of online retail sales in the US was higher than that of general merchandise for the first time in history last February.

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It's easy to see why brands are increasingly prioritizing their online sales investments. A recent survey of over 200 emails and Stackla retail executives found that 50% of retail brands are currently aligning social media advertising with their overall e-commerce strategy, and 75% say they would increase or maintain your investment in social media. Social media marketing over the next 12 months.

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With all the trends suggesting that the decade of 2020 is the decade of e-commerce, brands will be working harder than ever to take advantage of this inflexion point between commerce and social media, more commonly known as “social commerce.”

1.???Meet (and develop with) your customers:

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At a time when there is more competition than ever to capture the attention of shoppers, the success of marketers will depend on their ability to understand their customers' behaviours and adjust their strategies to create the best shopping experiences wherever they are.

2.???Create shorter, smoother purchasing paths:

When it comes to modern shopping, convenience is paramount. Brands that can design a comprehensive payment process, with the fewest frictionless steps possible, across all major channels, will be the most effective to connect and convert browsers into customers.

To make sure you're picking up the right people, in the right place at the right time, you'll need a multi-channel social commerce approach that builds on data and insights from your customers.

3.???Take advantage of user-generated content and organic influencers:

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Consumers view User Generated Content (UGC), images, videos, and reviews that people post on social media as the most reliable, authentic and impactful content, making it an incredibly valuable resource for marketers to take advantage of.

In fact, user-generated content is 9.8 times more influential than traditional influencer content. This trend points to the fact that today's social influencers are closer to reality TV stars than regular customers, and are seeing a decline in consumer confidence because of it. As a result, retailers should consider shifting their influencer marketing strategies away from paid macro-influencers and toward organic influencers instead.

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4.????Ethically Adopt Chatbots:

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Chatbots and on-site messaging mobile applications have become an important way for retailers to interact, inform and promote their products to customers. Facebook Messenger chatbots, in particular, are becoming a retail favourite, providing brands with 1:1 "always-on" direct interactions with shoppers, and a new way to capture quantitative and qualitative data for customers.

However, direct messaging can also be very invasive, if not used judiciously. If abused, it may result in an irreparable breach of customer trust.

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5.???Get Employees:

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Consumers expect personalized experiences from brands and reward those who can deliver them.

Nearly half of retailers involved in social commerce (49%) say it helps them personalize customer experiences, based on behavioural cues and increase the visibility of their product listings.

There are a number of ways brands can customize experiences throughout the customer lifecycle, but companies like Amazon have really raised the bar when it comes to providing personalized product recommendations, which means everyone else is catching up with the latest developments.