[Retail TouchPoints] Social Commerce Tech Guide

Push Social Commerce Beyond Product Discovery to Drive Conversions

Social media’s influence on the online shopping process continues to grow: while only 3.1% of traffic referred to e-commerce sites came from social networks in Q1 2016, that percentage jumped threefold to 9.1% in Q1 2019,according to Adobe Digital Insights. Additionally, the share of U.S. Internet users who bought an item online after seeing it on social media increased from 23% in December 2018 to 29% in August 2019, according to Bizrate Insights.

However, there’s still plenty of opportunity for brands and retailers to leverage social media’s reach and translate it into actual sales increases. This how-to guide from Retail TouchPoints details best practices for retailers seeking to maximize their social commerce strategies, including:

• Going beyond product discovery and research into generating conversions
• Capitalizing on visually driven, mobile-friendly content sharing by leveraging Instagram as the social centerpiece
• Adopting a “mobile-first, mobile-second, mobile-third” mindset
• Preparing for the potential growth of TikTok
• Engaging in a two-way conversation with shoppers at all times, whether answering a customer service inquiry or helping crowdsource a new product line