What Is Social Commerce and How Can Brands Make the Most of It

What Is Social Commerce?

Social commerce is buying goods or services with social media as the primary forum. Having become a staple in people's lives, channels have responded by integrating commerce directly into their platforms as they compete for attention. The benefit to audiences is clear—buying products with a few screen taps is convenient if you're already spending a lot of time on social media. As for brands, the importance of social commerce is even more significant and somewhat existential.

The average internet user now spends 2 hours and 27 minutes daily on social media. This also means that people spend 2 hours and 27 minutes less on activities such as watching TV, listening to the radio, or shopping in person—all activities marketers have traditionally used to attract customers. Consider a person's day as a pie. The slice of pie dedicated to social media is superseding everything else, particularly as they are drawn towards the infinite scroll of TikTok and Instagram Reels.

The amount of content available for people to watch is now never-ending, which is bad news for traditional ads but offers the opportunity of a lifetime for marketers willing to forgo the status quo. They understand that social commerce is no longer a convenience for brands—it is essential to propel growth. To help you get started, we’ve outlined the value propositions of e-commerce for each channel.

Social Commerce vs. E-commerce

Considering e-commerce is how you checkout, you may be wondering if e-commerce is a subset of social commerce. Many brands choose to have e-commerce without engaging in social commerce, and other brands choose to promote their products with the intent of having buyers shop in person. Hence, the two functions are independent of one another—but brands with the strongest social commerce and e-commerce strategies understand the benefits of using them in tandem to attract customers on social media and send them straight to checkout.

Why Your Brand Should Focus on Social Commerce

Just look at the numbers if you’re wondering how e-commerce changes business. E-commerce sales are predicted to grow by 56% over the next few years, and as many brands are looking to break through growth plateaus, optimizing their online customer journey has become their greatest priority.

Social commerce is more than just a sales channel—it is a way to foster deeper customer engagement. By integrating interactive elements like live-stream shopping and AR tools, brands can create memorable experiences that go beyond traditional e-commerce. For instance, live-stream shopping events have been shown to generate sales equivalent to a week's worth of in-store revenue in just one session, while AR lets customers virtually try on products, reducing friction in the purchasing process.

A strong content commerce strategy can also contribute to growth. Beauty brands that performed well with Dash Hudson’s proprietary Entertainment Score metric on TikTok grew significantly better than brands with less entertaining content.

The Benefits of Data-Driven Personalization in Social Commerce

Another advantage of social commerce lies in the ability to personalize the customer experience. Social platforms provide robust analytics that offer deep insights into user preferences and behaviors. This data enables brands to tailor their content, product recommendations and promotional strategies to individual customers, increasing satisfaction and driving higher conversion rates.

By tapping into social media analytics tools, brands can identify what resonates with their audience and refine their approach to optimize both engagement and sales outcomes.

How Social Commerce Drives Global Market Expansion

Social commerce isn’t just a local phenomenon—it has unlocked pathways for brands to reach international markets. With platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook boasting global user bases, brands can expand their audience without the need for physical retail spaces. This accessibility opens doors to customer segments that were previously difficult to access, leveling the playing field for smaller businesses to compete on a global stage.

The Role of Influencers and Creators in Social Commerce

Influencers and creators play a pivotal role in social commerce success. Their authentic connection with followers makes them trusted voices for product recommendations. Brands that collaborate with influencers often see higher engagement and conversion rates, as these creators craft content that resonates deeply with niche audiences.

For example, leveraging creator partnerships can help brands introduce new products in a relatable way while also fostering loyalty among their target audience.

Seamless Purchase Journeys in Social Commerce

Social commerce excels at simplifying the customer journey. Integrated tools, like Instagram’s in-app checkout or TikTok's connected e-commerce platforms, let customers to discover and purchase products without leaving the app. This reduction in friction increases the likelihood of purchase completion, creating a more streamlined shopping experience for users.

LikeShop is another great tool for brands looking to drive sales — this allows you to direct users from your link in bio to key product pages, whether it’s a specific product, a custom landing page with seasonal product picks or new arrivals, this is a great way to add another sales touchpoint for users. 

Emerging Trends to Watch in Social Commerce

Social commerce continues to evolve, with new trends reshaping how brands connect with customers. Here are a few emerging developments:

• Live-stream shopping is gaining traction as a dynamic, interactive way to showcase products and engage audiences in real time. Try going live on TikTok to infuse personality into your brand and talk at length about your favourite products. 
• Augmented reality tools, and even AI-generated CGI advertisements are becoming more common, allowing customers to visualize products in their space, try on items virtually or bring splashy attention to your products. 

• Cross-border social commerce is growing as platforms roll out features to support global shipping and localized product offerings.

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Top Channels for Social Commerce

E-commerce and social media have played into one another for a long time, and each channel offers something different. From product discovery features to integrated checkout, many tools are available to grow your brand’s online presence and fine-tune your discovery-to-checkout process.

• As a text-based and link-sharing platform, Twitter is relatively straightforward in how brands send users to checkout. Many brands use exclusive codes or offerings as incentives to encourage shoppers to convert.

• TikTok is the newest social channel on this list, but it is already making a significant impact, with products that have gone viral on TikTok overnight becoming top sellers. The platform now allows brands to connect to their e-commerce platforms and continues to grow its shopping capabilities at a breakneck pace.

‍YouTube, by contrast, has been around for a generation, but it is also adding new shoppable features, such as live links to e-commerce during streams. The sooner a brand can get people from discovery to checkout, the more likely they are to follow through with a purchase, and these live links go a long way in making e-commerce an interactive, shared experience.

Instagram

Instagram has nearly 1.5 billion monthly active users and is a top destination for everything from influencer content to entertainment. The channel is deeply integrated with other Meta platforms, such as Facebook, meaning that all of Facebook’s product innovations naturally carry over to Instagram—including its robust product catalog, which allows brands to create their online store directly from Facebook.

‍Instagram also offers a shop tab on business profiles and shopping tags to send users from photographs to e-commerce. It is the largest channel for link-in-bio solutions (such as LikeShop)—another innovative way to build your e-commerce repertoire.

Facebook

Facebook is the largest social platform, with nearly 3 billion monthly active users, and it is a channel that most brands simply cannot ignore. It is where social commerce took off and has the most sophisticated product catalog on the market (shared with Instagram). Brands don’t even need to connect another e-commerce tool with Facebook. However, there are certainly benefits to having a different, non-social e-commerce tool in your marketing kit—cross-channel campaigns being the most important.

Facebook is also known for its robust Marketplace, where users can buy and sell products to one another. Marketplace has taken on a life of its own and has become the de facto “yard sale” for many communities.

Pinterest

Pinterest’s unique advantage as a social channel is its focus on inspiration and discovery. There is already an audience on the channel motivated to save and share your products, and your challenge is to figure out how to direct them to your store.

Pinterest has a multitude of e-commerce tools, including product tagging on pins, a shop tab on business profiles, multi-image ads, and augmented reality for home decor. The channel continues to introduce new features frequently, and top brands will ensure they keep up-to-date with these new innovations.

Brand Examples of Social Commerce in Action 

Ganni

Ganni uses LikeShop to connect its Instagram content to social commerce, paired with a strategy that puts entertaining short-form videos first. The brand grew its organic Instagram video views by over 60% using Dash Hudson.

1stDibs

1stDibs analyzes its content performance in real-time to identify trends and adjust its strategy on the fly. The home industry is highly competitive on social media, but 1stDibs succeeds at using LikeShop to send Instagram users directly to its website. With Dash Hudson, the brand grew its website CTR by 80%.

Rare Beauty

‍Rare Beauty is one of the most entertaining brands on TikTok, and it succeeds at using the channel to deliver entertainment value while linking its content to the value of its product. TikTok users are driven to make worthwhile purchases, and seeing products in action is a substantial motivating factor in their shopping habits. Rare Beauty uses creators to drive 98% of its total campaign conversions on TikTok ads.

Get Started With Social Commerce Using Dash Hudson

Dash Hudson is the ultimate all-in-one social media tool for marketers that want to put their best creative forward and drive measurable business results. With the right tool, you can analyze your social performance, turn your content into an online catalog, and optimize how many customers you are sending to checkout. Dash Hudson has the Social Commerce tools you need to get started.

FAQs

How does social commerce work for brands?

Social commerce is the easiest way for brands to meet customers where they spend their time. There are three main ways that social channels allow brands to sell products:

• Channels such as Instagram allow you to sell your products through an integrated product catalog
• Channels such as TikTok allow you to connect your e-commerce platform to your profile
• Channels such as Twitter allow you to link directly to products or special promotions

What is social shopping?

Social shopping is buying products and services directly through social media. Many social channels now offer storefront pages that allow brands to sell products through one simple interface that is only a few taps away.

Why is social commerce important? 

Social commerce is essential for brands because it is the most surefire way to grow their customer base. The general population spends a meaningful amount of time on social media, and to drive sales, brands need to reach people where they are.