Social commerce: The key to unlocking the growth of ecommerce channels

In today’s world, most of us spend the vast majority of our time looking at our smartphones and scrolling through our social media news feed. While doing this, we are bound to come across advertisements for various products.

A large chunk of these advertisements, more often than not, are likely to be from small brands that conduct their business through social media platforms such as Facebookand Instagram. This combination of online businesses and social media is commonly referred to as social commerce, and in this fast-paced world, the lines between ecommerce and social media are blurring rapidly.

The pandemic has only further spurred our usage of social media and due to increased time spent indoors, we are making an increased number of purchases through online platforms. This is particularly true for the younger generations such as millennials and GenZ. Capitalising on this opportunity, countless offline retailers have taken their business online, given that going digital is the new way forward.

Although social commerce is relatively new, it has gained immense traction in recent times and is intricately linked to ecommerce, one of the most lucrative and fastest-growing sectors in the world.

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Social commerce indisputably holds the key to unlocking the future growth and progress of the ecommerce industry. Here’s how:

Smart ecommerce: The way forward

The advent of technology has paved the way for smart living and has made online shopping a ubiquitous concept. Technology has also facilitated the rise of smartphones and social media across the country, even in tier-II and tier-III cities.

This increased usage of social media and smartphones has created a newfound demand for social commerce. Furthermore, India also has a robust retail market that allows ecommerce sellers to capitalise on the social commerce element to expand their business.

With intensified consumer demand and expectations amidst the pandemic, the number of ecommerce sellers has also surged dramatically, resulting in cut-throat competition amongst players. This is where third-party logistics come into the picture.

To streamline the entire process right from order placement to the last-mile deliveries, logistics aggregators are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that post-order experiences are frictionless by offering cutting-edge technologies to optimise cost, time, and labour.

Third-party aggregators: Facilitating the progress

It’s a no-brainer that social commerce is evolving and growing at a breakneck pace while contributing to the advancement of ecommerce channels. Aggregators, too, have widened their array of services to accommodate social commerce players.

For example, a small-time seller who conducts most of his business through Facebook can fulfill his/her orders right from the time of placing the order till the time the order is delivered to their doorstep using the plethora of services offered by third-party aggregator brands. These brands are now even providing real-time updates on the order and non-delivery reasons to help sellers keep track of their orders.

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Future perspective

For ecommerce sellers, social commerce comes as an additional source of revenue, not too different from a Direct to Consumer (D2C) platform. Given the brisk progress of the ecommerce industry and the social commerce segment, the demand is only set to grow further as technology takes the centre stage.

The number of social media users are also on the rise, increasing customer expectations, and setting the bar high for brands to reach in terms of quality, convenience, and safety of the services provided.

As internet penetration and social media pervade through India’s socio-economic landscape, the scope for expansion and evolution is high. Social commerce is an indispensable part of bolstering the post-order consumer experience, and the future will witness countless innovations with reinforced solutions driven by new-age technology, helping the industry achieve exponential growth.