Social commerce is taking over slowly but steadily

Smart marketers mix the greatest aspects of social media and e-commerce to create social commerce, enabling e-commerce businesses to be accessible, and expanding their brand's exposure and client base.

What is social commerce?

Basically, it’s selling goods and services through social media platforms. With social commerce, the full purchasing process—from browsing products to making a purchase—takes place on social media. Shoppers can discover brands, research products, interact with customer support, and purchase their items through social commerce. However, this is not to be confused with e-commerce, where the purchasing process occurs in an online store, specialized branded app, or e-commerce websites.

The top social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TikTok have built-in social commerce features that allow shoppers to instantly purchase a product they saw while casually browsing through their feed, offering instant gratification while enjoying their social media experience. Now that’s an opportunity you should be taking advantage of!

Leverage the new trend

Offering a more convenient and engaging buying experience may be the reason as to why social commerce is gaining popularity. By 2026, it is predicted that social commerce would be worth $2.9 trillion globally. So why not take advantage of this trend and promote your social media pages more?

If you do not have an e-commerce website or app, you can collect payments from anywhere in the world through convenient and easy-to-use payment links and QR codes with MontyPay, and stay on top of all the sales performance, gross volume reports, and many other features available. However, online merchants that already have a website and an online store can profit from directing leads to their website as well.

Numbers don’t lie!

Every month, people between the ages of 16 and 64 browse social networks more frequently than search engines. Additionally, social media accounts for about a third of all internet usage. Social media has evolved from being a way to stay in contact with friends and family into a culture that drives nearly every aspect of everyday life.

Moreover, Social networks are far more commonly used for brand research by younger people. More consumers under the age of 25 use social media to discover and evaluate businesses while purchasing. Additionally, social media's value for marketing extends far beyond advertising: Gen Z usually uses social media to assess items, contrast pricing between rival businesses, and make purchasing decisions.

Shopping goes social

The foundation for a wider shoppable media ecosystem is being laid by social commerce, which is being driven by social media influencers and consumers who were raised on digital devices.

The social media stream has replaced the traditional storefront, and users aren't simply browsing. According to Deloitte Global, in 2023, the global market for social commerce would reach USD 1 trillion. Considering prior growth trends and the continuous reliance on all things mobile and digital, that assumes an approximate CAGR of 25%, driven by the purchases of the more than 2 billion consumers projected to buy on a social media platform in 2023.

So what are you waiting for? Leverage this new trend and promote your business on social media even if you do have an e-commerce website. And by integrating a payment gateway such as MontyPay, the payment collection process becomes easier than ever. Payment links and QR codes are one such example, allowing you to collect your worldwide payments from the comfort of your home, with no need for an e-commerce website at all!