The evolving social commerce landscape in India: What does the future hold?

Social Commerce is an emerging sector in India and its growth received a massive push during the global pandemic. According to a 2021 report by Bain & Company, social commerce as a sector has the potential to grow to $16–20 billion by FY25, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55-60 percent. With strong support from the newer generations and steady pace of growth, social commerce is expected to revolutionise and democratise the overall ecommerce landscape in India.

To discuss this phenomenon, Sourjyendu Medda, Founder, CBO & CFO, DealShare, and Alok Chawla, Co-founder, Kiko Live, join in on a panel discussion hosted by YourStory and share key insights on the same.

Speaking on the projections for the sector, Alok says the social commerce sector in India is still at a nascent stage but there is a huge number of active social media users in the country. There is also a new wave of buyers coming from tier 2 and tier 3 regions. “Influencer-led commerce and recommendation-based or suggestion-based purchases are on the rise in smaller towns,” he says, “and several large players in the space have scaled up quite rapidly - such as Meesho.”

Adding to that, Sourjyendu says that social commerce is now the engine of growth in the ecommerce space. “We’re growing very rapidly, and this model is the right model now for mass India,” he says. He also shares that at DealShare, they have an active monthly user-base of about 6 million.

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Alok mentions there is an evolving trend of creators who also sell products. “There is a lot of movement happening especially in the apparel, cosmetics and makeup space,” he says. Apart from that, another category which is receiving some traction is electronics. Additionally, brands have now started tying up with influencers directly, and asking them to promote their products.

He adds that Kiko Live has recently raised $1 million in a funding round and they would be looking to raise more in the coming months. Currently, the primary areas of fund utilisation are marketing, tech, etc.

According to Sourjyendu, DealShare is currently present in 300 cities and towns across the country. The categories in focus for the company are groceries and household essentials. “By the end of this year, we expect us to be present in 20 states and going further into many cities and towns,” he says. Additionally, the company also aims to create more physical touchpoints going forward. A big part of their investment will also go into creating cutting-edge technology and logistics optimisation.

Lastly, as for the future of social commerce, Alok shares the Gen Z and millennial population are likely to contribute the most to the growth of the sector. Sourjyendu concludes by saying that social commerce will be able to organise a huge chunk of the Indian retail space and make ecommerce highly viable for the country.