From ecommerce to social commerce: the opportunity for retail

All eyes were on the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales events as an indicator of consumer confidence ahead of the all-important holiday season. Would discounting by local and international retailers be enough to trigger a return to consumer spending? Where and how would shoppers spend?

NAB predicted AU$2.9 billion would be spent online in Australia alone over the four-day period while eBay signalled Black Friday as its biggest day of the year, estimating 2.6 million Australians would log on to shop. Positive signs.

Adobe global analysis of the four-day sales event found that consumers had most definitely indeed reached into their pockets to spend – but they weren’t reaching for their wallets. It was via their smartphones that consumers were purchasing across key categories of technology, fashion, homewares and toys.

According to Adobe’s data, online sales via smartphones hit a new record, accounting for 33% of Cyber Monday sales at US$3.0 billion, representing 46% growth year on year. Smartphones drove the majority of visits to retail sites globally at 54%, growing 19% year on year. 

The growth of online sales events over the past five years has been characterised by retailers adapting and innovating around ecommerce: in short, if you are on sale, then you need to be online. 

The next decade however, will be about a transformation to mobile and social commerce. 

Global Shopping Day or Singles Day on 11.11 showed the disruptive potential of social commerce. Driven by the high penetration rates of social media, changing consumer behaviour and the extensive reach of ecommerce in China, shoppable video, live streaming formats combined to set a new 24-hour retail sales record of AU$60 billion.

The markets will determine whether the increase in sales volumes over the Black Friday Cyber Monday period is strong enough to offset slow spending year to date, and the impact of deep discounting. 

However, these events have shown us that connecting the familiarity of social platforms, the power of influencer recommendations, the right discounts and frictionless digital shopping format is a powerful recipe for retail success and unlocking opportunistic spending.

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