When eCommerce integrates with social media, a new concept crops up, social commerce. Being easily reachable and offering instant online shopping experiences to customers, many retailers are using social networks as their communication and promotional channels.
Eyeing on the recent stats, in 2022, social commerce revenue was valued at $724 billion worldwide. By 2023, this figure will likely outshine $6 trillion in revenue.
Numerous companies have already opted for this approach to expand their firm and emerge as the top brands in the market, like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. Now, it’s your turn!
Whether you are a social commerce enthusiast looking for deep insights and knowledge about social commerce app development, growth techniques, marketing strategy, trends, or more, you have landed on the right page.
So, brace yourself to witness the highlights essential for you and your business. Let’s peep into the future of commerce.
What is Social Commerce, and Why Consider it?
Falling under the e-commerce umbrella, Social commerce provides a seamless shopping experience to consumers on social media platforms. The platform users need to click the links that appear on their window, which makes them land on the retailer’s product page with an instant purchasing option.
Let’s now track the metrics to get an idea about the performance of social commerce worldwide and why you should consider social commerce.
- Per the records from Insider Intelligence, by 2025, the US retail social commerce sales will reach $79.64 billion.
- Last year, US social commerce sales witnessed a surge of 24.9%.
- About 62% of the social commerce growth is going to be driven by 33% millennials, 28% Gen-X, 29% Gen-Z, and 10% baby boomers.
- In 2022, the social commerce sales of America witnessed a hype of about $53.10 million, which makes up approximately 5.1% of entire online sales.
- According to a recent report looking at the number of social commerce buyers in the US, in 2022, it went sky high and reached 96 million.
- Again, per Insider Intelligence, last year, US social buyers spent about $518 via social commerce, which is about 26.9% more compared to the previous year.
Ahead, we will unveil the top social e-commerce mobile apps that are ruling and raising the bar for other apps from the same landscape.
Top Social Commerce Apps
The best part about the social commerce app is it lets the buyers buy the products from their favorite brand without leaving their currently running website, app, or dashboard.
1. Facebook
A survey taken in 2022 recognized Facebook as US’s top social network for shopping. Over a quarter of US digital commerce using Facebook were aged between 18-34, which means most were young adults.
In 2022, 1/3rd of global shoppers opted for Facebook as their favorite social commerce platform for purchasing online.
2. Instagram
In 2022, the US user base of Instagram reached 128.3 million, which is about 4% more compared to the previous year.
Over 1/3rd of global social network users opt for Instagram apps to share photos and videos, buy products, and follow friends.
3. Pinterest
During the forecast period of 2016-2022, Statista recorded approx. 450 million monthly active users (MAUs) of Pinterest globally.
Last year, Pinterest’s advertising revenue reached $2.51 billion.
4. Snapchat
According to Snapchat, by 2025, social commerce sales are likely to get double what it’s going to get in 2023.
As of April 2022, Snapchat reached its largest user base of 144.35 million users. Worldwide, the ad revenue of Snapchat will boost by 10.4% next year.
5. Twitch
Owned by Amazon, Twitch displays ads and videos to market creators’ products. Per Mckinsey, among 8 million active users, around 84% believe in supporting the creators.
After witnessing the statistics of top social commerce apps trending and used widely in the market, now, let’s move onto the pathway toward developing a social e-commerce app.
How to Develop a Social Commerce App?
1. Define the App’s Features & Objectives
Firstly, you need to set the purpose of your social commerce app and determine the features you want to include in your app, like payment gateway integration, social interactions, search functionality, user profiles, product listings, and more.
2. Conduct Market Research
Next, time to understand your target audience, current market trends, and competitors. Well, post this, and you will be able to refine your app’s concept and market the unique selling points that you should incorporate into your app.
3. Craft Your App’s Wireframe And Design
Using wireframing tools, create a visual representation of your social commerce app’s UI. Ahead, design the UX and UI elements of your app. Be sure you include appealing, intuitive, and easy-to-use features.
4. Build the Backend
Now, time to set up the server-side infrastructure of your app that will help to handle app data storage, functionality, interactions, and user authentications with external services, like payment gateways. Choose an appropriate tech stack to meet your project needs.
5. Develop the Frontend
Using the front-end technologies, like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript, you should implement the UI design. Make sure your app is responsible and compatible with any screen size and device.
6. Implement User Authentication
Now, include a reliable and secure authentication system that may allow your users to register, login into the app, and manage their profiles. You can choose to use technologies, such as JWT or OAuth, for secure authentication.
7. Integrate Social Features
This is the most crucial step in developing a social commerce app. You need to integrate social features into your app, like user-to-user messages, likes, sharing, comments, and the following functionality. Such features will improve the social edge of your app.
8. Implement Product Listing & Search Functionality
Next, you need to create a system for your app users that may allow them to add products, upload images, provide descriptions, and set prices. Build a search functionality that lets users get specific products or browse the categories effectively.
9. Integrate Payment Gateway
Select a secure payment gateway, like PayPal or Stripe, and integrate it into your social commerce app to let the users make purchases securely. Next, implement features like cart management, payment verification, and order processing.
10. Test & Debug
Test your app completely, ensuring all its features work as expected, including data handling, user flows, and security measures. Next, identify and fix the issues or bugs you caught during testing.
11. Deploy and Launch
Now, set up a hosting environment, like Google Cloud or AWS, and deploy your social app. Also, optimize its performance, scalability, and security. Ahead, submit it to the app stores, Google Play Store, or Apple App Store and launch it for public use,
12. Collect Feedback & Iterate
After your app is live, gather user feedback, monitor the analytics, and analyze their behavior. Later, use that information to improve your app or add any new features or updates in the future.
Cost to Develop a Social Commerce App
Usually, the cost to develop a social commerce app starts from $15,000. The figure may go high, relying on varied factors, like:
- Type of app you build (simple, medium, or complex),
- Number of features you want to include,
- The functionality you want to add,
- The location of the developers you hire, and a lot more.
Latest Social Commerce Trends
Trend 1: Trust Gap
To make social shoppers reliable and sticky, repeat buyers, vendors, and networks need to overcome this trust issue.
Inside Intelligence reported that in the next three years, annual expenditure by the average US social buyer would surge to $419 per buyer.
A trusted shopping experience may help marketers to attain success at scale. Some aspects can help you in this, like seamless purchase protection, reliable fulfillment, and easy return and refunds.
Trend 2: Social Search Optimization
For marketers, this social commerce trend crops up as a make-or-break skill.
The people below 25 choose social media to research and decide on brand picks. Besides marketing, social networks are much in use for advertising. Gen Z usually opts for social media rather than search engines to compare prices, evaluate brands, and decide where to spend.
As we can notice, the search transitions are shifting from the web to social; businesses need to buckle up to participate in the race.
Small business owners and social media marketers should enhance their proficiency in social search optimization to get ahead of the pack.
Alt text is usually considered for image content description within the HTML code. It’s like a pathway that leads to image accessibility on the web and lets the search engines index images, and this improves SEO.
Additionally, marketers with small businesses should add their location on their business page and to every content they share. This will help them appear on the top searches of the SERP whenever someone searches for their service in nearby areas.
Risks & Challenges – Dark Side of Developing a Social Commerce Application
1. Privacy Policy
If your app is developed upon a social network where the users will share their information with friends in exchange for using it, you need to clear your privacy policy to the users that their details will be shared with 3rd-parties.
2. Payment Processing
Compliance risks are linked with payment processing across social media platforms.
3. Time-Consuming
Customer engagement will take time and effort. The brand should constantly interact with its audience besides just building its shop on social media.
4. Limited to Social Media Platforms
However, social media has a wide reach, but within the boundaries. Your shop would be limited to social media platforms only.
5. Made for Shoppers, Not Sellers
Online shops on social media platforms are created for shoppers only, not businesses. As the whole process targets these platforms, users’ checkout may lead to diminished web traffic.
6. Low Organic Reach
Obviously, social commerce entirely depends on advertising, or we can say ads are the chief selling tool. So, the organic reach is already slow and dying while ads dominate.
Tip to Grow Your Social Commerce App
1. In-App Promotion
To grow your social commerce app, you should do things to capture the attention of your users. Like, you can choose in-app promotions, such as “limited-time offers” and “flash sales.” This will boost customer loyalty and, thereby, the ranking of your store, which will, in turn, drive growth.
2. Incentives for Repeat Customers
Well, you should try one or the other way to increase your sales. Here, you can let your customers feel it’s worth purchasing from your shop. For that, you can award them with incentives for coming back to your store. You can give points for referring their friends or any special discount for current users.
3. Seamless FulFillment & Delivery Process
Customer satisfaction should be your priority, and for that, you should consider a few factors, such as network optimization and custom-branded packaging.
How Can Emizentech Help You?
Building a social commerce app demands guidance and expertise in varied technologies and programming languages. Consider seeking help from professional developers or an e-commerce development company if you lack experience, do not hold an experienced team of developers, or need time for other more-priced tasks.
You can make up your mind about choosing Emizentech considering below factors:
- Expertise and experience
- Amazing portfolio
- Clients’ reviews and rating
- Best quality work delivery
- Good team size and proficiency
- Support and maintenance services
- Seamless communication process
- Project delivery within budget and timeframe
Key Takeaways
Social commerce market stats depict that till 2025, sales are likely to boost at almost 30.8% per year. Social commerce sales are growing progressively without getting affected by the decreasing number of social buyers. Social commerce will not witness any fall in the long run, so this year, early adopters will benefit.
You should also reap the benefit of this moment and plan to develop a social commerce app. Connect with an app development company today to kickstart your project right away!
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