10 Yetis Insight – Why 2016 Will Be The Year Of Social Commerce

“So, what financial return did we get from social for this campaign?” - this question, if you work in social media, will be all too familiar and can often leave the best of us feeling a little overwhelmed…

Proving ROI and attributing it to specific social activity has historically been notoriously difficult; the sheer amount of data up for interpretation can sometimes leave managers estimating – which doesn’t really offer any solid commercial insight. With brands looking for new ways to link social media and online retail more effectively, could social commerce give us the evidence we need to show worth of social against business metrics?

If this year is anything to go by, it’s clear that shopping behaviours are changing. Online sales this year have been astounding and many retailers believe that with the Black Friday and Cyber Monday hype, this is set to grow further; I think that social media has played a key part in driving this increase in online shopping.

We’ve seen Buyable Pins on Pinterest - unfortunately only available in the U.S. right now so don’t all rush to explore this. Twitter tested a similar feature back in 2014 allowing users to buy directly from a Tweet and trialed it with top brands like Burberry – yet this is still yet to be launched officially. Now, with the recent news that Facebook is testing a new ecommerce marketplace (via Shopify), which allows retailers to sell products directly within the platform through shoppable ads (without taking a cut) – so, can we expect 2016 to be the year where social commerce becomes more widespread?

Some think that it’s not going to be that easy. Recode recently said that they think the biggest challenge is going to be “integrating inventory and payments systems from retailers big and small”. It’s safe to say that there may also be reluctance from shoppers to purchase in such an unfamiliar manner for the first time. We marketers are more open to developments in ecommerce and retail as we live and breathe innovation – however for consumers, it might take a while for them to gain trust in what might be perceived as a risky process.

While some retailers might be embracing the new shopping mechanic, others are a bit skeptical about what this will do to the whole customer experience. We know how difficult it can be to build relationships and brand loyalty via social media, so it’s no surprise that some fear that making social commerce more widespread might affect this.

Personally, I think it’s a really exciting time for both retailers and consumers. Integrating social media and shopping can be a great opportunity to build a brand, not just as a sales tool. By giving shoppers the ability to purchase product in a manner more accessible to them can only be positive. More people are using social media to validate product offerings and brands, and if a brand is able to serve up a way of purchasing a product from where the conversation is happening, surely this benefits both parties?

While click-to-buy and shoppable ads are great, there are some brands out there that are going one step further by looking at the relationship between social and sales much deeper. Net-A-Porter introduced ‘The Net Set’ earlier this year, it’s app-based fashion mag – but in the words of M&S, this isn’t just any app-based magazine. It’s a hub of shoppable trending content determined by the fashion community – by tapping into its existing online audience, it has turned an ecommerce platform into a social network. Kudos!

Other brands are looking at learned social behaviours and how this can support the online path to purchase. Grabble, a shopping app, has taken a leaf out of Tinder’s book, allowing users to swipe left or right while they browse products from high street retailers dependent on whether they like the product or not. Much like Apple Genius, the app remembers what users preferences are and builds a picture of your style, offering more relevant products as a result.

While many of the innovations in social commerce come from fashion brands, it’s by no means restricted to this sector, so in 2016 we will probably start to see more markets experimenting. I’m not really sure if social commerce is set to revolutionise shopping just yet, but I’m excited about the prospect that it could give us that holy grail evidence we’ve been seeking to make social more commercially accountable.