How Social Media is Changing Our Shopping Habits

The technologies that enable brands to market and sell their goods and services have changed along with consumer behavior. 

However, the advent of new tools and technologies, such as social commerce, has also spurred additional changes in consumer behavior and the contemporary retail environment as a whole.

For instance, the reliance of Gen Z and millennials on social media apps is fostering this mutually beneficial shift as they reach adulthood and continue to amass purchasing power. 

In the past year, 64% of Gen Z and millennials have made a purchase through social media.

Let us check out the top five ways social commerce alters the landscape for online retailers:

1. Launching Digital Storefronts Is Easy

Additionally, social commerce has made community marketing a viable and profitable approach for companies of all kinds. 

Household brands have the financial means to play the long game of gradually increasing consumer sentiment and brand recognition, but small businesses, independent brands, and early-stage startups are under pressure to increase sales as soon as possible.

Social commerce allows all types of brands to take advantage of the full potential of community marketing by providing in-app shopping ecosystems where they can upload their product catalog and offer their collections for sale. 

Additionally, paid advertising within each social media app helps brands reach a wider audience and increase the visibility of their shops.

2. Meet Customers Where They Are

The onset of the pandemic in 2020 caused a sharp increase in the already growing popularity of e-commerce; suddenly, people worldwide were shopping online for items they could no longer purchase in person or in-store. 

Lockdowns also strengthened people’s dependence on smartphones, especially social media apps, to keep in touch with the things that are most important to them. 

Layer after layer of conversion was necessary in the past to drive customers from social networks to the brand’s e-commerce website to achieve the best possible social media marketing results. 

Social commerce allows customers to complete transactions with a few taps and allows brands to meet consumers where they already spend their time.

3. Make Use of Useful Social Proof

Additionally, that user generated content does not have to sit in your social media marketer’s camera roll as a static collection of marketing assets. 

UGC produced by various social media influencers offers important social proof that influences people’s decisions to buy globally. 

Customers place a lot more faith in recommendations from other shoppers than in conventional advertising, including those from friends, family, and peers.

4. Using Viral Marketing

Historically, societal trends have influenced our financial decisions. Social trends ultimately determine what people consider significant, and brands are far too quick to adjust to the constantly shifting needs of their clientele. 

Social media has accelerated this rather than significantly altering it. We are all aware of how simple it is for a particular piece of content to go viral and garner an incredible amount of attention. 

And how easily the same trend can fade into obscurity. Tracking viral content is now more crucial than ever to properly guide content creation, thanks to social media.

Final Thought

In general, social media has a greater influence on purchasing behavior than just exposing users to products. 

It improves the entire shopping experience, helps consumers make well informed decisions, and shapes their perceptions. 

Additionally, it offers customization and smooth social media platform shopping integration. Therefore, it is crucial for any brand to use social media to its full potential. 

It is difficult to envision a situation in which it will become less significant, even though it will change in the near future.