New York, 18th of April 2022, Tom Philipps – Increasing numbers of Internet users are purchasing online each year, indicating that the e-commerce industry is flourishing. Almost every major retailer owns an e-commerce store, and a new one launches every day.
Remarkably social media platforms have been gaining popularity for social e-commerce in recent years. It seems that social media and e-commerce go hand-in-hand. Marketers have been using social platforms to engage with e-commerce customers for quite some time now. This is very beneficial to buyers, since it shows that they have a broader selection to choose from. However, as online retail becomes more popular, the e-commerce store owners are now facing increased competition.
One of the most fascinating things about social media is that it continues to evolve and adapt to changing consumer trends. Over the past 20 years, a progressive shift has been identified from simple, text-based updates to much more visual and ephemeral content, used by platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram, similarly social commerce has flourished.
Whereas, Tik Tok which is a new entrant has taken this trend even further. In addition, innovations in one-to-one communication have also been identified in the development of messaging apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat, and Messenger. It’s quite fascinating to see how some of these trends have formed to drive innovation in social media and beyond communicating with family and friends.
Similarly, another promising social media platform ringID, who is on thrive empowering millions by building the next generation platform for Social Commerce—powered by fintech.
Essentially, ringID contains the best aspects of all the most popular social media platforms including live broadcasting, voice and video call. It doesn’t end with communication, instead let its users also watch TV, videos, and movies, stay up-to-date on global news, browse through the marketplace, and pay for items using the in-app secure wallet system.
One of the most revolutionary aspects of ringID is the proffered option to earn money through the platform by making valuable content contributions based on their skills and knowledge. In fact, this option is lucrative enough that over 1 million users currently make a living using the platform by contributing their knowledge.
In essence, broadcasters are offering their professional services or simply sharing knowledge on the platform with the added advantage of earning from paid calls, gifts & more. Professional service providers such as doctors, teachers, stylists, beauticians and others can offer a wide range of services to viewers using the Interactive Live platform.
Blending entertainment through Interactive Live with Instant Purchasing, influencers can create their own Virtual Storefront. Viewers can interact with the broadcaster through direct voice & video calls if necessary. They can simply place an order to get the chosen product during a live session. As promoters, broadcasters can offer advice on the products or otherwise promote their preferred products and get rewarded for generating sales.
“A growing number of organizations are beginning to understand that the right platform makes creating an immersive customer experience even easier,” said Ayrin Islam, Co-Founder & CEO of ringID in a recent interview at the Dubai Social e-Commerce International Conference. “These days, more and more companies are using social media to rebrand, promote, drive traffic, connect customers to the right products, and ultimately transform the whole customer journey.”
The growth and impact of social media indicate that brands play a much bigger role in what we see across channels. This provides brands the opportunity to create seamless e-commerce experiences directly within social channels which are some of the most popular channels on the internet, rather than redirecting users somewhere else (websites or sales platforms) users can view the products and make the purchase right there at the moment.
One of the major outcomes of the COVID19 pandemic has been the growth of e-commerce.
It has been identified that the pandemic has enhanced the growth in current trends. In light of this change in consumer behavior, social commerce will for sure be influenced today and in the future, as the pandemic has helped many retailers identify the benefits of having more than one method through which consumers can purchase from them.
Furthermore, social platforms have adapted their models to leverage social commerce; this helps retailers reach out to more customers and build brand awareness. The benefit of social commerce over physical stores is that buyers value brands that recognize them and social commerce allows retailers to achieve this by allowing buyers to engage as a part of a conversation while providing convenience.
According to research, users that use the convenience of their smartphones for shopping are unlikely to revert to previous methods of doing things. This is good news for retailers. For buyers, online shopping is more than just a function; it’s a different experience for them. And in this regard, social shopping presents a unique opportunity that allows retailers to help secure their revenue through social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Researchers have stated that by the year 2024, the social shopping industry will be worth more than $2 trillion thanks to innovations such as Snapchat’s “The Drop” and Facebook Shop. This technology works as an interactive digital shopping channel. For many businesses, particularly retailers, social media as an e-commerce platform has widely enhanced the sales and marketing process. Besides keeping them open digitally during the pandemic, it has also given them the chance to thrive due to its low cost and efficiency in engaging with their target market.
In fact, social media can be considered a powerful tool that gives many small businesses the exposure they require to flourish and establish firms and gather more opportunities to grow. It has proven itself to be one of the largest contenders for e-commerce and in a world where everything has shifted to online, without social e-commerce it’s difficult for almost any business to progress. Thus, it’s fair to conclude that social platforms are the future of business.
