4 minute read
Social commerce is a leading payment trend in 2023. Here's why.
Thursday, July 6, 2023
4 minute read
Social media is evolving. It's no longer just a place where people interact with friends. Your customers are now shopping and buying directly from social media, including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok. This experience is known as social commerce—one of our top commerce and payment trends of 2023, and for good reason.
More than 50% of the businesses we surveyed* say they'll introduce social commerce as a new channel in 2023. Why? Because you can reach more customers on social media. Researchers expect nearly 6 billion people to be on social media by 2027. And social media attracts a highly engaged audience: The average person spends nearly 2 hours and 30 minutes on social platforms. It's no wonder that global social commerce will reach nearly $793 billion by 2025.
$793b
Global social commerce will reach nearly $793 billion by 2025, up 12.2%.
$793b
Global social commerce will reach nearly $793 billion by 2025, up 12.2%.
What's a social commerce platform? And how's it different from social media marketing?
Social media marketing, unlike a social commerce platform, directs buyers off-platform to purchase items through a website. Users click an ad that directs them to purchase those items through a different website—adding an extra step in the buying process.
Social commerce lets users buy your products or services without ever having to leave social media. Why is this such a huge benefit? Because the purchase is fast, seamless and secure for your customers. And less friction means more sales for your business.
“It's smart to think social commerce for every size business. There's revenue opportunity at stake.”
Konrad Chan
President, Asia Pacific, Global Payments
Simple technology. Simple integration.
Out-of-the-box payment technology helps you convert your social media followers into paying customers. No complicated integrations or hardware are necessary. You can generate an on-platform checkout with a simple, embedded payment link that you add to your social media post or ad.
These embedded payment links are versatile, so you'll be ready to transition to the next emerging social channel whenever it arrives (Think Gucci's partnership with Snapchat to launch the first augmented reality shoe try-on campaign).
Benefits of social commerce
Social commerce comes with many advantages. It can help your business:
- Improve customer engagement. Social channels open up communication between your business and your customers. Social media allows you to promote your products or services—while enabling your audience to relate to them. Followers are more likely to read reviews, comment and like or love your past posts on these platforms. This helps your audience better engage with your brand.
- Sell more on social media. Create easy-to-use, frictionless embedded payment links that you can share across social commerce platforms—with ease and confidence.
- Build brand loyalty and create long-lasting customer relationships. More customers engaged with your products or services on social media builds your brand messaging and loyalty. SproutSocial reports that 78% of consumers are more willing to buy from a brand after a positive experience on social media.
- Attract new generations. Forbes found that 97% of Gen Z consumers now use social commerce as their top source of shopping inspiration. Favorite social commerce platforms for Gen Z include Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.
- Better define your target audience. With social media data and analytics, you can better track your posts across targeted social demographics, attracting more potential social media customers.
Get started with social commerce
Boost sales while building lasting and authentic connections with your customers. That's what social commerce can do for you. To get started, first evaluate your audience's social media preferences. Then look at the capabilities of the technology that are best for you. With the right social commerce strategy, your business can tap into more revenue and connect with customers in new ways.
Our social commerce solution lets your customers shop for your products and services directly on each social media platform. Contact us today to get started. And don't forget to subscribe to our Payments in Focus newsletter to get ahead of the latest commerce and payment trends
*The global survey of 217 businesses mentioned in this report was conducted online between July 12, 2022, and August 12, 2022.
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