For a long time, consumers weren’t comfortable shopping directly from social media platforms. They feared that their secure information would end up in the wrong hands or that the company that they’re buying from was a scam. Now that kind of mindset is changing and social media platforms are making it easier than ever to shop on them. It’s time to take advantage of this new revenue and use social media as an e-commerce platform.

What is Social Commerce?

Using social media as an e-commerce platform is called social commerce or social shopping. It’s not about just showing off products and interacting with your audience. It’s about creating a virtual store on each platform. It’s about moving people from the discovery stage of finding a product to having them buy it right away with a built-in checkout page.

This can also include having consumers click on links that bring them to a product page with a quick and easy purchase option.

The idea is to make it more of an experience instead of clicking through pages and products.

How is Social Commerce Different from E-Commerce

They’re similar but the key difference is that e-commerce is browsing and purchasing on a website or branded app. Social commerce is browsing and purchasing within social media.

They are similar but not the same.

Why Bother with Social Commerce?

You may shrug your shoulders at the idea of social commerce. Why would you want to add more to your workload?

Let us explain.

An Experience

Social commerce makes shopping more of an experience. It’s not just pointing and clicking. Instead, people can share their purchases with friends, get their opinions before making the purchase, and leave reviews for brands they love.

It helps replace the experience of going into a store and browsing.

It Encourages Spontaneous Shopping

By being able to find something and buy it with a single click encourages spontaneous shopping. There’s less time to question their decision versus having page after page loads before the purchase is complete.

How Social Commerce Works by Platform

Each social media platform lets you set up shop in different ways. Here’s a quick rundown of how some of the top platforms work.

Facebook

Facebook is the largest social commerce platform, they have around 56.2 million buyers in 2021. Facebook’s social commerce tool is called Facebook Shops, it’s free to set up and is within your Facebook business profile.

If you don’t have a separate page for your business, you need to make one before you can set up Shop. Once you have one, you create your shop in the Commerce Manager. It’s a platform that helps manage your inventory and sales on both Facebook and Instagram.

You can also sync up your Shopify store as well. If you haven’t set up your GearLaunch store on Shopify, we have a great lesson on how to set up Shopify in the first chapter of our Academy.

Here’s a step-by-step guide by Facebook itself.

Instagram

Like with Facebook, you’ll need a specific business page for your store, and then set it up in the Commerce Manager. You can also sync your Shopify store. Here is Instagram’s guide.

Twitter

Twitter did have its own shopping hub, but it’s currently inactive. According to Twitter’s blog, the platform is currently testing a new way to shop. Make sure you keep an eye on them and how this new way develops.

Pinterest

People love using Pinterest as a way to find new products to buy. Why not use this to your advantage?

Pinterest introduced Product Pins in 2018, which make products shippable with links that go right to a business’ checkout page. They even add an image of a shopping tag so consumers know which products are in stock.

Pinterest supports Open Graph, Schema.org, and oEmbed formats for marking your pages.

Pinterest breaks down this step-by-step.

You can also download Pinterest on Shopify if you have a store there and link the two with ease.

Don’t Forget About CTAs

Once you’ve created your various shops and accounts, start creating posts that are connected to your product. Make sure to use calls-to-action that will entice your customers to buy. Phrases like “swipe up to purchase and store link in bio” are good ones to start with.

Are You Ready to Do Some Social Commerce?

Now that you know all about social commerce, what platforms to start with, and how to entice customers, it’s time to give it a try! Make sure you keep all your social media accounts updated and consistent that way you’re always on your customers’ timelines!

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