While social commerce offers great opportunities for merchants, there are also challenges to selling in this new space, especially on a global level.
In the past decade, there has been an upward trend in social commerce, but 2020 saw explosive growth.
TikTok is the most recent platform to offer buying and selling services to retailers. And with over 1.1 billion users, merchants are eager to capitalize on its growing audience. Through its partnership with Shopify, TikTok is also testing a new, shoppable livestream experience, creating new ways for retailers and e-commerce merchants to monetize their content. TikTok is positioning itself as a go-to resource for merchants hoping to reach Gen Z customers.
Below are three things to keep in mind for e-commerce merchants looking to successfully embrace social commerce:
Maintain data privacy. Trust in social media is low and continuing to decline. A survey this year found that one-third of respondents don’t trust social media with their data. Consumers are hesitant to share their credit card, address and personal information on these sites, fearful it will end up in the wrong hands. To help protect your customers' data at checkout, it is important to secure your website by obtaining an SSL Certificate. This enables an encrypted connection between the web server and web browser and prevents hackers from getting access to user information. It’s an extra layer of security and builds trust with the customer.
Set expectations on delivery. Social commerce enables small merchants to sell to customers all over the world. With consumers placing orders internationally, some merchants may have to contract with other vendors to fulfill inventory in all of the regions they serve. Aside from the obvious logistical challenges, drop-shipping can lead to unpredictable delivery times. In these cases, it is important to communicate delivery times openly with customers. Failure to do so could lead to chargebacks and refunds.
Seamless Checkout Experience. Social media is a great place for product discovery. However, a lengthy or complicated checkout process can quickly turn initial interest into an abandoned virtual shopping cart. To generate more sales and repeat customers from social, it is important to create a seamless checkout experience.
This can be achieved in several different ways, from ensuring your website is mobile friendly, allowing guest checkout, or taking advantage of auto-populate tools so that users don’t have to waste time filling in standard details like name, email or home address. When selling globally, it is also important to ensure customers can use their local currency at checkout.
We can expect to see social commerce continue to thrive in 2020. In fact, a recent survey from my company found that 96% of respondents expect social commerce to grow in the coming year. To fully capitalize on this trend and successfully embrace social commerce, merchants should prioritize data privacy, communication of delivery timelines and a seamless checkout experience. Doing so not only will build trust with their customers, but also lead to fewer chargebacks, and higher sales as a result.
