Retail E-commerce To Leverage New Features On Social Media Platforms [Infographic]

The potential of social media to influence purchase decisions has allured most retail businesses. Some have invested heavily in digital marketing and content for the same reason. Although the direct role of social media in sales has been disputed by many disenchanted marketers, experts will tell you to keep faith. There are some innovations in social media platforms that are about to change the way social media affects e-commerce. In-fact social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are planning to take more active role in e-commerce through their own features that’ll allow seller to sell their products directly to the social network. Online retail might see a world of change as traditional e-commerce platforms are going to have to compete with the big social networks for effective sales volumes. Social networking sites have an advantage that they already have active user bases who interact on regular basis. Its only a matter of time that they leverage this for customer engagement alongside direct selling. What will the future hold for online retail only time will tell.

Social commerce is a small but rapidly evolving area for e-tailers. While social accounts for a small share of the total online retail sales, its influence on purchasing power is growing very quickly. Online social shopping was up by 23% in 2014 for the top 500 global retailers when compared to the previous year and it gave them $3.3 billion in revenues. Not bad for an area that is considered small in the e-tail space. It is especially impressive given that the overall e-commerce growth rate in the US market is approximately 16%.

While social media spending accounts for only 9% of e-commerce sellers overall budgets currently, that figure is projected to increase to 22% within the next five years. 2% of all e-commerce traffic in the US is driven by social media networks and this is continuously growing. For more insights into the world of online retail and how social is an emerging driver for consumer purchasing power, see the below infographic created by SnapParcel..

Submitted by Julian Carroll, Marketing Manager of SnapParcel | Infographic source: www.snapparcel.com

Do are you a seller using e-commerce to sell your products? Do you use social media to promote your business? Explore the social media based ecommerce features and let us know what you think in the comments below. Don’t forget to share this infographic.

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Jeremy

Business Analyst and Local Business Marketer. Practical Brand Advisor. Co-founder & Admin at The Local Brand. Writes about marketing and investment. Motorcycle enthusiast and likes to travel.