Recently, I set an iPhone time limit on my social media use to “45 minutes.”
I figured 45 minutes would be more than enough. Almost an hour? Between working at 探花精选, catching up with friends, and attending exercise classes, 45 minutes would be plenty of social media consumption.
Unfortunately, I learned quickly that I spend 45 minutes on social media before I even get to work in the morning.
I know I'm not alone. The average daily social media use of internet users worldwide per day.
With all that consumption, more businesses turn to social media to market to their audiences. But marketing is just one aspect of the buyer's journey — what about sales? Can that be done within social media platforms, as well?
It's now entirely possible for businesses to sell products and services natively within social media sites.
Here, we will explore that concept — social commerce — and look at some impressive examples of social commerce so you can consider trying it for your own company.
Additionally, we'll list some of the most popular social commerce platforms available today so you can decide which one could give you the highest ROI.
Top social commerce websites/platforms
How to Create a Social Commerce Strategy
What is social commerce?
Social commerce is the ability to purchase a product or service natively from within a social media platform like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or Twitter.
Since many businesses are already marketing on these social media sites, allowing users to purchase from within these platforms without leaving the site makes sense.
Should you leverage social commerce?
If you sell physical products online, leveraging social commerce is a great way to drive sales and revenue to your business.
Users are used to the native purchasing experience at this point and prefer to be able to make a purchase right on the social media app quickly.
Our latest consumer trends survey shows social media is the future of shopping. Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X all prefer social media for product discovery, and 87% of sellers say social selling has been effective for their business in 2023.
Moreover, 59% say their company is making more sales through social media this year than last year.
Social commerce examples
- Social media checkout capabilities
- Social commerce plugins and apps
- Shoppable ads
1. Social media checkout capabilities.
One of the best examples of social commerce is the ability to click on a product and checkout from a social media site, like Instagram or Facebook.
For instance, Instagram has a “checkout” feature on their app, which allows you to click on a product within a post, choose a size and color, and proceed to payment within the platform.
The first time you use Instagram‘s checkout feature, you must enter your name, email, billing information, and shipping address. Once your order is complete, Instagram saves your data, so you don’t need to enter it the next time you shop.
You'll also receive notifications about shipping and delivery from within Instagram, so you can track your purchase without leaving the app.
For instance, let's take a look at what happens when I click the View Shop or shopping icon on one of Instagram posts:
Instagram immediately pulls up a page with all the details of every product included in the image and more from its shop.
I‘m particularly interested in the sneakers. From within Instagram, I can choose a color and size and then click the blue "Checkout on Instagram" button. I don’t need to re-enter my information if I've shopped on Instagram in the past.
Pretty simple.
Many other social networks have these checkout features, including and .
2. Social commerce plugins and apps.
As social commerce continues to rise in popularity, we'll see more plugins and third-party apps emerge to make the process even more seamless for businesses and users.
For instance, one third-party app called allows your followers to purchase one of your products by simply typing “Sold” into the comments section of a post.
Once they've commented “Sold,” the app takes care of the rest, emailing the user an invoice to complete.
For instance, if my friend comments “Sold” on a Facebook post of a cute sundress, I'll see the picture in my News Feed and might consider purchasing one for myself.
Ultimately, social commerce is an excellent opportunity to increase brand awareness and sales- a win-win.
3. Shoppable ads.
Shoppable ads are another example of social commerce and are currently available on both Instagram and Snapchat.
Simply put, shoppable ads allow businesses to tag products in an Instagram or Snapchat sponsored post, ideally creating a more efficient ad-to-purchase experience.
This type of social commerce helps companies collect valuable data on which ads convert prospects into customers immediately.
The features of shoppable ads within both Snapchat and Instagram continue to improve.
For instance, Snapchat has advanced features on its shoppable ads, including collection ads, product catalogs, advanced pixel targeting, and 30+ new Snapchat partners.
Wish, an e-commerce app, successfully uses Snapchat's product catalog feature to create different Snap Ads and Story ads to showcase a large variety of their products, as shown below.
Top social commerce websites/platforms
- TikTok
- Poshmark
1. Instagram
Between its checkout capabilities and shoppable posts tool, Instagram is undeniably one of the most popular platforms for social commerce.
In a recent survey, respondents listed Instagram and TikTok as the top platforms influencing their purchasing decisions.
Since these users are already prepared to find and purchase new products, they must be allowed to buy them in-app.
2. TikTok
of TikTok's users say the app affects their purchasing choices. Moreover, consumer spending on the platform is more than . of TikTok say they use the platform for inspiration.
3. Pinterest
People often turn to Pinterest for fashion, home decor, or beauty inspiration, so that Pinterest would be a viable platform for social commerce.
users have made a purchase based on a recommendation from Pinterest, and report finding new things they find on the platform.
Pinterest's allows users to click on small white dots on various products within a post and either purchase that product within the app or browse similar products. They can make purchases on both desktop and mobile.
4. Facebook
With over , Facebook is one of the most popular social platforms in the world, making it a good place for social commerce.
If you have a Facebook Business Page, you can to sell your products and services directly within the social platform.
Facebook s, “While any business can have a shop, this feature best serves merchants, retail, and e-commerce advertisers.
We recommend it for businesses selling apparel, accessories (including bags and luggage), home furnishings, and baby or kids' products.”
To upload your inventory to Facebook and create a shop section, you can either use a third-party e-commerce platform like BigCommerce or Shopify or upload and manage your products yourself.
For further inspiration, try searching for major retailers and how they've set up their Facebook shop. For instance, take a look at :
The Facebook shop is a fantastic opportunity for your business to reach a larger audience — and, even if your customers don't end up purchasing your products on Facebook, having these products listed on your Facebook Business Page is a good idea for making Facebook users aware of the products you sell in-store.
5. Poshmark
Poshmark is a social commerce marketplace that allows people in the U.S. to buy or sell clothing, shoes, and accessories, either new or used.
Poshmark makes the experience even more social with features like “Posh Parties,” which are virtual buying and selling events you can attend with friends.
Popular brands on Poshmark currently include Nike, Lululemon, and Chanel — to , simply download the app and follow seller instructions.
How to Create a Social Commerce Strategy
1. Align the brand experience.
Before starting a social commerce strategy, it's essential to consider your brand experience and target market.
When customers purchase online, do they need to look at multiple pages on your website? Do they have a lot of questions? Do they usually get in touch with a sales rep?
If so, your brand experience might not suit social commerce.
On the other hand, if your brand experience has a quick sales turnaround, from looking up the product to purchasing, your product might perform well on social commerce.
It's crucial to ensure the brand experience is aligned with social commerce before creating a strategy.
2. Consider your target market and choose which social commerce sites to use.
Once you decide to move forward with a social commerce strategy, consider your target market and what social commerce sites they use.
Are your customers on Instagram and Snapchat but not on Pinterest? In that case, you'll want to focus your social commerce efforts in the right place.
To develop a social commerce strategy, you'll first want to think about which sites you will focus on.
3. Decide which products to sell on social media.
Next, consider which products are best suited to sell on social commerce sites. If your products require more time and thinking before purchasing, then those won't fit nicely within a social commerce strategy.
However, some of your products might work well while others don't. This means you should consider which products you will focus your social commerce efforts on.
Ultimately, social commerce can eliminate friction in a user's online shopping experience and catch users at moments when their excitement over your products is highest.
However, you must do market research to ensure you're using the right social commerce platforms or apps to reach your audience in the social spaces they frequent the most.
Additionally, remember social commerce is fundamentally social -- if your business doesn‘t also engage and communicate with its followers, then your company won’t get much out of social commerce as a long-term strategy.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.