Essence has launched an inaugural social commerce report, which studies the consumers’ trend of buying products and services directly via social platforms.  

The report also highlights the opportunity that brands have in social commerce.    

It suggests that 41% of respondents worldwide made purchases or intend to make purchases from brands which have a social presence.    

Social media platforms are now not only limited to interactions between buyers and sellers, but also a place for organised commerce.    

The survey shares that China leads in social commerce, and is forecast to account for 13% of the total ecommerce sales in 2021. 80% of consumers in China purchased items on social media, whereas Singapore, India and Indonesia followed with 50%, 49% and 48%, respectively.  

On the other hand, France, Germany and Japan were at 22%, 27% and 24%, respectively, with regard to their purchases made via social platforms.    

In most countries, the average transaction value on social commerce is higher than the average transaction value on ecommerce platforms.    

The study showed that 35% of the high value transactions were driven primarily by men, whereas 72% were driven by millennials in the 25 to 44 age group. The purchases were mainly skewed towards categories such as hardware, home cleaning, luxury and furniture.  

Four out of five respondents stated that they were likely to buy on social media, post watching a livestream or participating in conversational commerce. Globally, 85% of the respondents who watched shopping live streams showed more likelihood to purchase via social media.   Innovations and collaborations with influencers and beauty advisers are driving sales of luxury items both online and offline, the survey states.    

Highlights:
Three out of four people surveyed are likely to buy through social media in the future
41% of respondents worldwide made purchases or intend to make purchases involving social platforms
43% of survey respondents prefer digital wallet or mobile payments in shopping transactions

Aniket Basu, senior director, technology and ecommerce, Essence, said, “We expect that the future of online shopping - and not just social commerce - will be discovery-driven. Customers tend to be exposed to new and innovative products as they browse more on social media or encounter algorithmically mediated recommendations from friends and family on social platforms. Ecommerce is maturing as a field, with social media giving brands and retailers new ways to reach audiences and new growth opportunities. In this environment, social commerce serves as a key future-proofing method for the next five years and beyond.” Source: Campaign India