Once upon a scroll, social media was just a digital play area — a place to post random photos, stalk your crush, or spam your timeline with vacation dumps. Today, social media has evolved into a high-functioning multitasking market. Social platform has taken the version of e-commerce to become social commerce – and it is not just a buzzword but a complete behavioural shift.
But how did we get here?
And why does it work so well?
Seen to Sold:
The transition was subtle and sneaky. Brands initially used social media just to be visible, to stay on top of mind. It was about awareness, reach, and recall. That’s when social commerce, Instagram’s “Shop Now” buttons, TikTok’s seamless integrations, and Facebook Marketplace nudged the users to take action without leaving the site. And it works. A simple swipe up or a shop now button takes the almost convinced consumer to complete the cycle.
And if it’s not for the shop now button, the mobile first shift would have done it. When was the last time anyone booted their laptops to scroll through an e-commerce site? Hard to tell. The all-in-one box called phones and the Gen Z audience are the prime reasons why social commerce works, along with less distraction and a quick checkout
On the other hand, e-commerce site faces the highest cart abandonment when browsed through mobile phones due to two primary reasons. First, initial e-commerce websites were designed for desktop viewing, and despite the transition to a mobile-first mindset, these sites and not 100% compatible, leading to a clunky UX. Second, constant notifications and a shorter attention span, one minute you are scrolling through a shop page, the next second you receive a Snapchat or WhatsApp notification, boom, you are diverted and distracted, leaving the cart as it is.
Social media, on the other hand, has our attention. It’s where we hang out. And that’s exactly where brands have moved their storefronts. Social media has become a platform where users don’t search for the product, the product reaches the audience. A frictionless discovery. From inspiration to checkout – all done in a scroll.
But like everything, there is a downfall of social commerce.
Yes, social commerce helps in impulse buying. But it’s often just that — impulse. A one-time purchase. A momentary transaction because you saw it on an influencer’s profile. And it’s not just about the loyalty, social commerce bleeds money. Every product that is marketed or pushed on buy now stories costs big bucks to reach the right audience.
Which raises an important question for brands that are thriving with social commerce:
Is the convenience of social commerce worth the cost of low retention? The next big challenge for brands is not just to sell, but to build repeat orders.