How to Sell on Social Media, Marketplaces & beyond the eCommerce Store

This ecommerce & virtual stores guide is a social media ecommerce strategy report to engage and transact with customers across digital & social content and commerce platforms.

Executive Summary

With consumers increasingly spending their time on social networks, streaming platforms, and other digital channels both creating and intaking content, retailers as a result are garnering less consumer attention on their eCommerce sites. Brands have the challenge and opportunity to evolve their ecommerce & virtual stores strategy to meet potential customers where their target consumers are, adapt their messaging to speak to their desired customer, and develop content that fits within these digital environments and creates a seamless shopping experience.

Report Overview

In this ecommerce strategy report, the PSFK iQ research team explores the tools, technologies, and solutions brands and retailers are using to influence, engage, transact and connect with consumers across an omniplatform ecommerce and social commerce landscape. Through five featured trends-led strategies and highlighted marketplace examples, this report will help your organization develop a strategy that provides elevated engagement for target audiences as they engage with your brand in the digital domain.

What You’ll Learn In This Report

• Learn how to take advantage of anywhere eCommerce, how to cultivate an engaged fan base, and what social media platforms and service providers are helping reach consumers on their own terms by enhancing the online experience.
• While already popular in other parts of the world, how emerging opportunities like social media livestreaming and super apps can provide a personalized shopping experience are gaining mainstream adoption to engage today’s digital shoppers and potential customers.
• From brand fan communities and personal shopping bots, to a live streamed mobile experience, how services that elevate the customer experience will define the next era of ecommerce businesses and the shopping journey.
• In order to meet the unique challenges of selling online in a rapidly shifting consumer landscape, how retailers are actively exploring how best to integrate new payment methods securely, provide on-demand customer journey assistance, and foster loyal customers in third party environments beyond the retailer’s online store through a unified experience across multichannel commerce.
• How brands and retailers are increasingly looking to online channels, social media platforms, streaming services, influencer marketing and mobile app leaders for innovative marketing strategies and commerce practices.
• Why brands are cultivating an engaged audience and designing their successful omniplatform strategy based on actual consumer feedback and data driven consumer experience insights.
• With the growing demand and necessity for digital commerce channels and capabilities, why retailers have been quickly transforming their operations and strategies to go beyond the convenience and utility of eCommerce to offer experiences that deliver personalized support, entertainment and a great sense of community

Watch a Presentation of this Ecommerce Strategy Research plus Expert Opinion

What’s In This Report?

In this ecommerce strategy report, the PSFK iQ research team explores the tools, technologies, and solutions brands and retailers are using to influence, engage, transact and connect with consumers across an omniplatform ecommerce and social commerce landscape. Through five featured strategies and highlighted marketplace examples, this social media ecommerce strategy report will help your organization develop a strategy that provides elevated engagement for customers as they engage with your brand in the digital domain.

This social media ecommerce report provides:

• 5 commerce trend-led strategies for omniplatform shopper engagement
• 16 best-in-class examples of technology fueled ecommerce and social media commerce strategies. The wide range of examples cover instagram shopping, instagram stories, social media advertising, customer service and social selling.
• Proprietary statistics from PSFK US Digital Shopper Survey
• Consumer insights into changing behaviors and expectations around digital shopping experiences
• Case studies from Alibaba, Nike, Klarna, Meta, Paypal, Foot Locker, and more

Original Insights & Statistics In This Report

• Only 33% of online US shoppers prefer to click through and buy a product on a brand or retailer’s eCommerce site when that product is discovered on a social media or news site. 25% prefer to buy the product without leaving social media channels or content platforms, and 13% are still inspired to go buy the product in store.
• 56% of US shoppers have used social media livestreaming to shop online, and 31% of those shoppers say they are more likely to buy a product that they discover it when using social media livestreaming.
• 29% of US consumers are or plan to use shopping assistants (bots) in the future for ecommerce sales and help with making a purchase decision.
• Research shows if a US shopper was to join their favorite brand’s online community, engagements that they would expect include redeemable coupons for online sales (46%), to receive a token or digital asset for participation (32% of shoppers), guaranteed access to products prior to selling out (32%), promotions about the brand’s product (28%).

Who Prepared This Report?

This ecommerce strategy paper was developed by the same PSFK research department that since 2004 has provided trends-led innovation consulting advice to Apple, BMW, Facebook/Meta, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Volkswagen and Walmart

Published on: Jan 29, 2022