The rise of social commerce in India has been hand in hand with the rise in the popularity of Instagram – specifically Instagram Reels. Introduced in 2020, Reels are a short-form video function designed to rival TikTok, which allows users to make snappy 15-second videos.
However, Reels has evolved as a viable way to showcase and sell products and with 72% of users making purchase decisions based on something they saw on Instagram, brands have no excuse not to jump aboard the Instagram shopping train.
Here is how your brand can leverage social commerce:
- Do your homework: To build a customer base, it is key to understand the customer base. As social commerce is primarily driven by Gen Z and Millennials, it is imperative to understand the demands of the audience and develop your offerings.
- Putting a social media strategy in place: Customers look at an average of nine channels to browse inventory, seek advice, and make purchases. To engage them effectively, it is crucial to build a cohesive and unified customer experience across channels – be it social media, email, or messenger apps.
- Understand how to sell: Gen Z and Millennials are visually savvy, and therefore, knowing how to leverage visually appealing features such as Instagram Stories and Reels becomes a must. Numerous small and medium-sized businesses have seemingly cracked the code and are creating engaging short-form videos that humanize their brands.
- Set up for success: Wading into social commerce will potentially create an increased demand for products. Brands need to ensure the back-end technology and fulfilment processes are in place. As 43% of consumers state that they are circumspect of social media platforms to manage the payment process, brands need to ensure that their refund and return policies are clearly stated and are customer friendly.
- Leverage social commerce: Retailers often use apps such as Instagram to understand shopping trends before they become mainstream, which gives them an edge with their in-store merchandising strategies. To sense and respond properly and rapidly, retailers should invest in the proper artificial intelligence tools such as natural language processing.
- Amplify your reach through smart selling tools: With intelligent customer relationship management (CRM) software in place, businesses can customise content based on their audiences, find prospective customers, and manage all your customer data seamlessly
The future looks bright
Social commerce is the new frontier and is now far more accessible for brands, both big and small, to experiment with social commerce and leverage it to grow their businesses. It helps them tap into specific customer segments, expand their reach to tier 2 and tier 3 towns and cities and keep up with changing consumer demands.
