Shopify Pushes Further Into Social Channels

Pushing Further into Social Channels 📲

The first era of online shopping was independent merchants setting up their sites. However, the second era solely belonged to Amazon.

Nonetheless, we are now in the third era, which could simply be referred to as the age of social commerce. To put it another way, this is the era of Shopify.

Last summer, the ecommerce platform revealed its innovative alliance with TikTok to elevate customer buying experiences, which was quickly followed by a list of social platform partners, such as; Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest and Google among other collaborators.

We'd say that this is where the future of commerce is headed, based on the platform's ambition to lean towards social channels and enable its merchants to focus on developing a social media channel strategy.

Social Commerce: The New Era

See, Shopify doesn’t charge for channel integrations, nor does it take a cut from media gains. However, as Shopify is the payment processor, the platform does keep a small percentage of all sales made.

Therefore, the deal works for social platforms and the ecommerce platform as merchants are readily bringing new ad dollars to the table.

Amir Kabbara, the director of product for Channels at Shopify stated:

“We’re doubling down on driving the new era of social commerce."

Kabbara added:

“Social channels are the fastest-growing source of sales and marketing for Shopify merchants.”

Sales with Social Channels

In the United States alone, merchants who set up a storefront with Facebook/ TikTok or onboarded with the Google Merchant Center climbed by 76% in 2021. Sales on such social media platforms have also increased by 270%.

Therefore, merchants, utilising social channels can help to reduce the shopper funnel. For one thing, businesses will no longer need to direct traffic to their site from the likes of; Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube to make a sale.

According to Kabbara, more than half of consumers aged between 18 and 34 will learn about products through social channels and 28% of this audience will have purchased goods through social media.

Shopify’s Channel Integrations and Partners

Previously, merchants used social media as a way to interact with customers and build a fan base.

However “now merchants are embracing not just the connection, but are also there for commerce” Kabbara commented.

The channel integrations also improve advertising and marketing. So, rather than scanning the web for new clients, there's a natural dynamic across channels where one new customer could lead to more sales as the brand's page has the potential to be displayed or suggested to others in their circle.

According to Kabbara, Shopify also has an analytics hub that is shared with its channel partners, allowing them to know where traffic and sales are coming from.

Additionally, a merchant can link an existing customer’s email address to the same individual making a sale on walled gardens such as Facebook and/ or YouTube visible.

However, for merchants to do this, they must have already obtained the identifying data with an agreement to use it for advertising to connect it to a sale made through social channels.

The Progress of Social Commerce

Previously, sellers couldn't build their customer data based on user engagements from behind a walled garden, except through the platform’s black box system.

For instance, customers who made purchases on Facebook could be retargeted using Facebook's ad network.

Now, if Shopify can connect the credit card or identity (such as an email address) to the sale, the merchant can retarget that user with its own email remarketing or advertising strategy.

Kabbara added:

“Something true of the largest retailers and small independent merchants right now is the effort going on to meet customers where they are online and for commerce to happen there.”

So, what are your thoughts on the movement towards the implementation of a social media channel strategy for ecommerce stores? Reach out and let us know.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!