INTHEBLACK April 2022 - Magazine - Page 17
Social commerce has the
potential to address a
great deal of the “friction”
associated with online
shopping, but ongoing
ethics considerations
remain a challenge.
E
-commerce has been on the rise for a couple of
decades and has become much more popular
during the pandemic, but traditional
e-commerce still involves some “friction”.
The effort of pre-purchase research, sifting
through the myriad options and committing to a
purchase means many retailers grapple with cart
abandonment in their attempts to boost online sales.
Retailers have always been keen to meet potential
customers where they are, and more customers than
ever before are on social media platforms.
Social commerce or contextual commerce allows
users to see, click and buy instantly thanks to
technology such as buy now, pay later schemes
and digital wallets.
Mainland China leads the way in social commerce,
with an estimated US$363 billion (A$510 billion)
worth of purchases in 2021, up by 35.5 per cent from
2020. For the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, the rise
of the social media influencer, the emergence of new
payment methods and social media platforms’
capacity to provide user-friendly “buy” buttons have
all contributed to social and contextual commerce
being hailed as the “next big thing”.
KNOW YOUR MARKET
It would be a grave error to assume that social
commerce is the domain of fashion retailers
targeting young female consumers, says Suzie Shaw,
managing director of We Are Social’s Australian
operations.
“The average Australian spends nearly two hours a
day on social media sites, and about a quarter of all
adult Australians are now making purchases through
social media,” Shaw says.
“Interestingly, Australian men are bigger social
media shoppers than women – 47 per cent of male
social shoppers shop weekly, compared to only
29 per cent of female social shoppers.”
“SOON, RATHER THAN
LOOKING AT AN IMAGE
OF AN INFLUENCER
WEARING A SUIT ON
THEIR MOBILE PHONE,
PEOPLE WILL BE
STRAPPING ON VR
GOGGLES AND SEEING
WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE
WEARING THE SUIT.
THEY WILL BE ABLE
TO EXPLORE PRODUCTS
IN A MUCH MORE
IMMERSIVE CONTEXT.”
SUZIE SHAW, WE ARE SOCIAL
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Shaw concedes that social commerce is in its
infancy in Australia and other APAC nations, and
that social shoppers continue to skew young. In
Australia, young shoppers spend an average of
only A$25 a month buying things they see on
social media.
However, the rapid growth of social commerce
in China and its growing popularity in the US are a
good indication of what is to come in Australia and
elsewhere in the world, Shaw says, particularly as
social media takes tentative steps into the
“metaverse”.
“Soon, rather than looking at an image of an
influencer wearing a suit on their mobile phone,
people will be strapping on VR goggles and seeing
what they look like wearing the suit,” Shaw says.
“They will be able to explore products in a much
more immersive context.”
In the meantime, consumers can expect brands
to start offering more engaging 2D experiences,
such as “live commerce” – a livestreamed blend of
entertainment and shopping that “combines instant
purchasing of a featured product and audience
participation through a chat function or reaction
buttons”.
Live commerce is already hugely popular in China,
and Shaw expects it will take off elsewhere. That’s
because “live commerce events allow brands and
influencers to immediately answer any questions
that may be a barrier to purchase”, she says.
CAVEAT EMPTOR
“Consumers have wants and needs, and, in a
capitalist economy, it’s the job of marketers to
address those needs,” Shaw says.
“Morally, I don’t see much difference between
supermarkets putting candy at the counter knowing
it will tempt shoppers, as well as any children they
have in tow, and brands leveraging Facebook,
Instagram or Pinterest to encourage people to
impulse buy a pair of sunglasses.”
However, Shaw concludes that regardless of their
prerogative to use social channels to push sales,
businesses must still think carefully about how they
market to consumers, especially younger ones, and
that consumers too must take responsibility for their
own decisions, regardless of whether they shop in a
bricks and mortar store or in cyberspace.
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au April 2022 17