The emergence of social commerce has been unavoidable. It was only a question of time until e-commerce and social media, both of which have grown in popularity, merged to provide shoppers with an attractive purchasing experience. This article explores the rise of social commerce in Africa.
People are now spending more time on social media sites and apps than anywhere else on the internet. Social commerce is transforming how businesses attract, engage, market, and ultimately sell to buyers.
Social commerce has seen an upward trajectory over the past few years on a global scale. According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the social commerce business was worth $89.4 billion as of 2020. By 2027, it is expected to reach $604.5 billion.
Consumers’ shopping habits and preferences are shifting as a result of social commerce. This is because social media has been steadily encroaching on e-commerce over the years. So, what precisely is social commerce?
What is social commerce?
The purchase of goods and services using social media platforms such as Facebook, WeChat, Instagram, and TikTok is known as social commerce. While some powerful apps combine payment and logistics into a single app, others give a basis for connecting users and their commodities to customers, with payment and logistics handled by third-party providers. Other social commerce platforms have emerged, focusing on mixing social media networks with e-commerce capability, allowing Influencers and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to promote products.
The complete purchasing experience — from product discovery and inquiry to payment — occurs on a social media network with social commerce.
Many people were obliged to use internet purchasing more frequently as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and related mitigation actions, which exposed more people to the benefits of the practice. While e-commerce use has been steadily increasing over time, researchers maintain that the epidemic has hastened that trend by about five years.
As a result, social platforms have increased their e-commerce integration activities, with nearly every platform currently experimenting with various forms of in-stream online shopping.
How social commerce can help your business
1. Your buyer persona is hyper-targeted with social commerce.
Based on the massive amount of client data available on social media, you may change and retarget your advertising more efficiently. This means that your product can be positioned directly in front of the people who are most likely to enjoy, desire, and eventually acquire it. In a manner that traditional e-commerce and marketing cannot, social commerce enables you to match suitable products to specific customer persona.
2. Your brand can become popular by being shared and recommended.
If your customers are pleased with your items, they can easily promote and recommend your business on social media. This helps you gain wider visibility amongst consumers, and it’s completely free.
Business people who want to keep their customers satisfied have a number of options with social commerce.
But keep in mind that while pleased customers might increase sales, unhappy customers can do the exact reverse by submitting negative reviews and badmouthing your company.
Even the most well-known brands can fall victim to negative client feedback. The goal is to successfully deal with it.
3. Increases your sales by targeting mobile shoppers.
Mobile devices are used by 93 per cent of social media users. Social commerce allows consumers to buy your stuff while they’re on the go.
Consider that for a moment. Almost all social networks have been designed for mobile use. Mobile devices are extremely convenient and can convert passive social browsers into enthusiastic, impulsive clients. Consider how much your sales could increase as a result of this.
Furthermore, mobile shopping allows users to compare products and consult their friends and family no matter where they are.
This could also explain why the average order value on Instagram, a social media network designed specifically for mobile, is substantially higher.
4. Increases Customer Satisfaction with a frictionless Checkout
Some social media platforms, such as Facebook and Pinterest, allow users to purchase straight from the platform rather than being redirected to a website where they must sign up or fill out long, tedious forms every time.
Take, for example, the checkout procedure on Pinterest. You browse the site until you find anything you like, then press the ‘Buy’ button to complete your transaction right away. The payment procedure is simple. Shopping is a breeze.
The consumer experience can be substantially enhanced by this seamless checkout made possible by the ‘Buy’ button. It’s simple and straightforward. When compared to the usual e-commerce checkout process.
5. Encourages genuine participation.
Social media platforms allow for two-way communication between businesses and their customers. It enables businesses to connect rather than merely sell.
Not only will your content appear in your consumers’ news feeds on a regular basis, but they will also be able to interact with it by commenting, tagging, liking, with their friends, and sharing it with their networks.
This opens up a lot of possibilities for e-commerce enterprises. It brings brands and customers closer together, allowing them to engage on a more personal level.
The rise of social commerce in Africa
Long before recent developments on social media networks, African entrepreneurs have been practising social commerce on platforms like WhatsApp Business, Instagram and Facebook. By posting images of their wares for customers to browse through and contact them via direct messaging or on the phone for negotiation and payments. Payments would usually take the form of bank transfers. Some savvy traders also send payment links in order to expand payment options for the customer.
Mobile phone usage in Africa is growing rapidly and has continued to be the most important driver of growing internet penetration. The increase in online users has opened the door for e-commerce and Social Commerce to develop even faster than many imagined.
It does, however, bring up certain issues. Consumers’ lack of trust in safe, inclusive and secure payment systems has been one of the most significant impediments to e-commerce in Africa. This year, payments are projected to be one of the most important variables influencing online buying trends, and this will have a direct impact on the expansion of Social Commerce in Africa.
Facebook seems to be leading the pack with its Facebook Pay, Instagram Shopping and Instagram Checkout features. While Instagram Checkout is yet to go global, a lot of merchants have seen huge success with the feature in the US. On the Asian continent, platforms like WeChat have been enabling throngs of consumers to browse and buy products in-app.
In Africa, with products like SeerBit’s payment link, all you need to do is upload your products on Social media and send a payment URL with predefined prices for your customers to make payments online. Create a SeerBit account now to get started.
Although the major social media platforms are at various stages of rolling out these end-to-end shopping capabilities on their respective apps, some features are already available to select African countries.
Conclusion
Despite its youth, social commerce has established itself as a valuable segment of e-commerce in several African economies.
Mainstream e-commerce and social media players are migrating to social commerce, displaying a variety of features, and revenue streams in the process. Despite their variations, these platforms share one goal: to provide users with a smooth online purchasing experience.
Social commerce has a favourable impact on underserved customers and merchants segments. Customers that are low-income, live in rural areas, or are price-sensitive can benefit from features like group buying, which give them more bargaining power. Influencers can make money on the side by promoting and selling things to their social networks using social resale platforms.
For entrepreneurs, social commerce provides a stronger online presence, as well as tools and solutions that answer the most pressing demands of firms that are digitising. This goes to show how social commerce can help the informal sector, which employs the majority of people in African nations.