By Nick Mann

In the past, e-commerce and social media were two different entities. For example, users may have checked out your military surplus/outdoor/tactical brand on social media, but they would have needed to click over to your ecommerce store to make a purchase. But that’s all changed recently with the rise of social commerce. In this post, I’ll explore how social commerce works, the impact it can have on businesses and how to get started. 

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is when shoppers buy products directly from within a social network. “It involves taking social media beyond its traditional role in the discovery process,” explains Sprout Social. “Instead, users will get to complete the entire purchase journey within the same platform. That means they can quickly go from discovery to purchase without leaving their preferred apps.” Some examples include Instagram Shopping, Pinterest Shopping, Facebook Shops and TikTok Shops. Each platform differs slightly with its features, but the common denominator is that they allow customers to make purchases directly from the network, and clicking through to a business’s website isn’t required. Instead, everything can be done natively right from within a social media platform. 

How social commerce can be a game changer to brands

Hands down, the biggest benefit is that social commerce can significantly improve your conversion rates. To understand why, put yourself in the shoes of your average shopper for a second. Let’s say they found your brand on social media and see a particular product they’re interested in. In the old model, they would have had to find your ecommerce store, browse through it, locate the product and buy it. But with social commerce, they can skip the extra steps and instantly buy it directly through your social media account. So rather than dealing with a convoluted sequence of steps, shoppers can find your products and buy them right away, streamlining the purchasing process and eliminating much of the friction. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you see people interacting and liking your social media posts but weren’t sure how to turn them into actual sales, social commerce is the solution. 

It’s a win-win for both shoppers and businesses. For shoppers, they don’t have to deal with the frustration of shifting between social media and ecommerce to buy what they want. For businesses, you can turn more leads into paying customers, so it’s a no-brainer. And with many networks making social commerce simple and pain-free, it’s something most brands (including your business) can capitalize on. 

Getting started with social commerce

As we’ve learned, networks like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok offer social commerce to many business owners. Instagram Shopping, for example, “is a set of features that allow people to easily shop your brand’s photos and videos all across Instagram.” With it, you can set up a shop where Instagram users can conveniently browse your products, check out curated collections, see product details like pricing and descriptions and more. The first step to getting started is to choose the specific network you want to use for social commerce. When it comes to reaching the military surplus/outdoor/tactical market, I generally find that Instagram and Facebook are best. However, if you have an established presence on any of the four networks listed above, they can all potentially be good choices. 

I also suggest only using one network initially as you get the hang of the process and go through the learning curve. Once you know your way around social commerce, you can then branch out to other networks. But I find it’s best to keep it simple at first. After you’ve identified the platform you want to focus on, visit the “get started” page to set up your account, learn the policies, choose a checkout method, add contact info and so on. 

Optimizing your listings

The next step after setting up your profile is to optimize your product listings, which involves three key steps. First, be sure to only use high-quality images that look clear on the desktop as well as on mobile devices. Second, add detailed descriptions to your products that quickly relay critical information shoppers need to know before making a purchase. Some examples include key features, product materials, dimensions/size, colors and price. Third, break products down into categories to make it easy for shoppers to find what they’re looking for. Beyond that, you’ll want to include shipping and return information so shoppers can find it at a glance. 

Capitalizing on social commerce features

At this point, it’s just a matter of leveraging all the relevant features the platform has to offer to streamline the digital shopping process and turn the maximum number of leads into customers. One example is setting up product tags. “Product tags let you highlight items from your catalog directly in your images and videos — including in Feed, Reels, Stories and product mentions in your profile bio or feed copy — so people can easily tap on a tag and learn more,” Instagram writes. Another example is creating shoppable posts, which let you add a “Shop Now” or “Buy” button to your content. This allows shoppers to make a purchase natively on the social network they’re using without ever having to leave. Note that platforms like Instagram also offer ads with product tags that let you maximize the reach of your content for an additional fee. While this requires an investment, the long-term payoff can be worth it as long as you send a steady stream of qualified leads to your page. 

The untapped potential of social commerce

While ecommerce and social media have existed independently for a long time, it’s only recently that we’ve seen the overlap between the two with social commerce. When done correctly, social commerce can have a big payoff that helps you leverage your existing trust and relationships on social media to sell more products and achieve higher conversions.