Asian businesses operating in the burgeoning e-commerce space are quickly picking up on the potential of social commerce to engage with consumers at the heart of their online experience in the realm of social media.
At its core, the strategy gives brands a presence right where their consumers are spending many of their hours online – and it now occupies an estimated 44 per cent of the $109bn Asian e-commerce market.
Social commerce allows retailers to sell products via their profiles on various social media networks as opposed to their own apps and websites. It allows consumers to discover and purchase products entirely within a social networking platform, while sellers use messaging to provide support along the way – so that shoppers can ask questions and receive one-on-one attention at any point during the experience.
While the trend is really just coming to prominence now – fuelled by the e-commerce boom arising from the global pandemic response – the term was first referenced by Yahoo! back in 2005. It’s evolved a great deal since then, but has emerged as a clear signal for online retailers to start driving conversions on social platforms where potential revenues are now shifting. This is particularly the case in Southeast Asia, where the average growth of social commerce in terms of gross merchandise value has grown by 307 per cent in the past year.
