Instagram’s prominence in Facebook’s portfolio gives this recent announcement more gravity than previous attempts. For the first time, Facebook is the social commerce category, and it doesn’t just add an e-commerce layer to its social network.
The expected effect is compelling.
Estimates put the profit in profits at $30 billion through transaction fees, improved advertising creation, and deeper relationships with visitors. The timing is right. The sharp increase in online food shopping and the prolongation of the pandemic will have accelerated internal plans. Another advantage is achieved by helping a large number of small business clients at a critical time and expanding profit streams beyond advertising.
Of course, Facebook also hopes that its investment will help e-commerce giant Amazon and Google’s profits and market share through its Google Shopping product. However, social commerce is a much richer experience than classic e-commerce. of a new online grocery shopping experience that Facebook will own and that others will find difficult to challenge. This is where the Instagram platform provides exclusive benefits to Facebook and is a key component of success.
Instagram is already in the eCommerce experience
All direct-to-consumer businesses run classified ads on Instagram. The platform is too prolific not to. The advertising experience is undeniable and measurable down to the last penny. Instagram classified ads are direct response like almost all virtual classified ads. Classified ads, however, the strength of the platform lies in highly visual and ambitious advertising content, which stimulates users’ passive desires before functional desires arise.
Instagram knows I’m looking for new leather boots. You understand it first of all because of my browsing profile and the photographs and marks I have browsed. To these data he adds my age and formulates a concept of taste from my circle of acquaintances. Over the next few weeks, it brings me amazing classified ads showcasing the newest leather shoes, from giant stores to local small businesses to pop-up DTCs. My acquisition resolution is slower, but inspired.
Compare that to Google Adwords or Google Shopping, which meet my immediate needs. Search effects and grocery shopping lists are functional. The effects are effective, but less inspiring unless it’s express with my product name or logo. Amazon is similar, with platform effects optimized in terms of relevance, speed, or ratings. Lists of bland products rarely generate enthusiasm. I can still buy my leather boots through those channels, but the reason for the purchase will most likely come from other sources.
Social commerce encompasses the entire food buying process
Brands create profiles on Instagram to showcase their products to consumers and build awareness long before the desire arises. An Instagram user accesses the platform with several paths of discovery. Your adventure begins with the other people you meet and extends to friends of friends. , your favorite coffee shops, searches for your next summer vacation, or influencers showing your latest purchase. Brands are offered around this browsing experience, and if visual stimulation is successful, the food shopping experience ends up on Amazon or in-store. , a few days or weeks later. Instagram is widely regarded as a must-have component of the grocery shopping adventure in e-commerce and even brick-and-mortar commerce. It is a sturdy storefront that replaces any shopping mall, grocery shopping district or fashion store. magazine. A user’s ability to shop natively through Instagram dramatically shortens the shopping journey, making it easier for businesses to find, inspire, and convert a window shopper into a customer.
Every store in the world will have to take advantage of this.
Social Trading Good Luck Demands New Ideas
As stores, large and small, will rush to create their stores on Facebook and Instagram, this opportunity demands more than just replicating existing online stores. Products will want to be presented Instagram-style, which means images and videos that consumers can relate to, just pieces. taken in opposition to a white background. Retailers will also want to invest more in advertising as the festival of biological discovery intensifies.
Facebook’s expansion into retail outlets has more intensity and business importance than a simple e-commerce extension of its network. Instagram turns it into a social business. Create new interactive sales channels that will turn passive users into paying consumers long before other platforms get the chance. Social commerce is a true innovation for online retail.