Every day it appears another company is finding a way for consumers to “add to cart” faster and complete transactions in one click (or swipe). Such is the current state of commerce that now exists in nearly any place at any time.
The “everything commerce” revolution is concentrated on social shopping — the notion of making social content shoppable, and making shoppable content social, says Hamutal (Tula) Schieber, CEO and founder of Schieber Research. She answered a few questions about platforms, purchase drivers and the anticipated rise of consumer-to-consumer commerce.
P2PI: How do you classify the various social shopping platforms?
Schieber:Generally, we can divide them into three groups. First, there are currently thriving social commerce platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. Those platforms enable tools like live shopping, direct-to-purchase video ads and catalog listing ads. Consumers expect — and want — to discover brands and shop through those platforms. The challenge is to break through the noise with engaging, relevant content, and to drive awareness and influence through creators.
Second, there are walled gardens, or places where people influence each other, talk, and recommend products and services. Brands and retailers are not openly welcome here. In some of these consumer-to-consumer platforms, commerce also is taking place. Those include Discord, Reddit, and the many long-tail, peer-to-peer reselling, creator and upcycling platforms. To benefit from these platforms, the best move for a brand will be to humbly participate in the conversation, ethically, as an equal.
Finally, there are platforms where brands and retailers are invited, and consumers are active, but are not currently thriving as social shopping platforms. These are mainly gaming platforms and content streaming.
P2PI: You’ve indicated that stress is a main driver of social shopping. Why is that?
Schieber: While digital shopping is by itself a less stressful way to shop (less time-consuming, convenient, enables price and product comparisons), it is actually proven to be physically stress inducing. Social shopping enables a more personalized discovery process. It allows for easier decision-making based on people we trust, like friends, family and creators. This type of shopping can even avoid stress-inducing errors, such as wrong size or color, since one may consult the seller or other members of the community. TikTok, for instance, combats decision fatigue by explaining that the personalization on the “for you” discovery page allows you to see more relevant choices (i.e., minimizing the number of decisions).
The above is not limited to digital shopping. The best shopper marketers already know how important it is to maintain the sense of curation and personalization in physical stores, as well as corresponding with the overall omnichannel strategy. Today it means connecting social media trends to the store by helping customers easily find the products they discovered online or helping them make decisions based on creators they know and trust. A famous example is Barnes & Noble’s in-store connection to the “TikTok made me read it” trend, featuring books that are trending on “booktok.” Various brands also are launching limited-edition products to correspond to social media trends.
P2PI: What are some of the remaining challenges or friction points as it relates to social commerce?
Schieber: One of the biggest future challenges for brands and retailers will be their participation in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) commerce. Brands and retailers gradually lose control of the conversation with consumers. In the past, we saw a brand or retailer selling on social media and including a user-generated-content element (reviews, recommendations, etc.) to support decisions. Today, the conversation is seldomly led by brands, and consumers discover new products based on what their favorite content creators and their friends recommend. The sale also is increasingly led by creators, who sell directly to fans without the need to enable a brand or a retailer to partake in the process.
The real challenge is the C2C platforms — such as resell, fan art and upcycling — which could leave brands and retailers out of the conversation entirely. In my opinion, to play in the field, you must adopt a platform mindset to enable transactions and empower consumers. The bottom line is that brands must come to shoppers where they are spending their time and offer a personal and seamless experience, and relevant content — no matter the technology.
