This is is my attempt to pick up relevant buzzwords and attempt to understand & analyse the underlying parameters which contribute towards a concept becoming a buzzword in the industry. The analysis is largely framed for the India market basis several, socio-cultural, behavioural & industry relevant insights.

1. The Age of Social Commerce
Moving into a time of socially engaged shopping experience

2. What is Social Commerce?
Simply put, the process of making purchases directly on social
media platforms
It can be primarily classified into two groups:
1. Integrates the commerce on an existing social media platform
2. Uses the principles of social connections to create a referral-based commerce set-up

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=89&v=JRK7R
jOB3Bk&feature=emb_title

7. Is Social Commerce a new thing?
YES and NO
YES, because the new form of social commerce is a completely new model
NO, because a marketplace kind of commerce has been present for quite some
time (early 2009)

8. From Marketplace…

9. …to Shop/Stores

10. And THIS as the game changer

11. Why the sudden buzz?
Pandemic Times:
Policy Decisions:

13. Is it big enough?

14. ( man is a social animal).

15. Underlying force making this trend?
Evolving socio-cultural & psychological factors

16. Aspects fuelling the growth of social commerce
CONSUMPTION
• A playful game
• Exploration of
desires
• Expression of
ambition
• Potent tool of
identity curation
IDENTITY
• An ongoing
aggregation
exercise
• Multi-faceted
expression
• Simultaneous
broadcasting &
consumption
CONNECTIONS
• Easy, accessible,
desirable
• Device of
shared/collective
experiences
• An otherwise
diverse and
distributed Content
seamlessly
collapsing on to a
timeline/s
Accessible smart phones. Reduced data costs. Audio driven engagement apps. Local language ready tech. Digital money

17. World of Consumption – an engaging, fun, entertaining simulation
Consumers both as players as well as the played
TRANSIENT ABUNDANCE
OUTSOURCED PERFORMANCE

18. Where frequency is the success metric
More. More times.

19. And ‘Aur Dikhao’ the operative mantra

20. Professional Consumers:
Building a consumption fueled identity/Professions/Careers/Celebrity-hood.. Star
ness..

21. Forever, indexing Aspirations, as they stroll through virtual timelines
Curation of what needs to be bought, tried, seen and most importantly lived

22. Not surprising then, is that,
Identity becomes an ongoing aggregation exercise

23. A plethora of finely sliced labels to borrow from

24. Simulcasting…

25. …as well as consuming one’s identity

26. Putting a disproportionate focus on external validation

27. In this attempt, reveling in multiple dimensions of the self

28. Borrowed from the multiple worlds, we interact with
Passion
Profession
Content
Food
Friends
Consumpt
ion

29. At the same time,
a shift in the context of connections at basal level, given
the changing imagination of ourselves

30. Social connections are becoming easy…

31. Social media has enabled every fan to transition into
‘friends’, which, in turn has become the very currency of
new celebrityhood

32. … accessible …

33. … and desirable

34. ‘Friendship’ itself has become a device for collective/shared
experiences
Community shared cycles

35. Connections get forged into a ‘community’ providing a safety net
for everyone

36. Stars in social media are born out of the cumulative push of the
community

37. The Key Strands, then
• Consumption as an ever alluring seductive force
• Creating a new ‘you’ one consumption at a time
• fashion identity
• travel - kind of person you are
• food - exploring world/culture
• shows/music - forming a worldview, creating alternate reality
• belief that anything is achievable
• Identity, itself an always on curation process, being simultaneously
informed by different worlds
• Social connections as easy, accessible but almost intangible neural network

38. CONSUMPTION
SOCIAL
CONNECTIONS
IDENTITY

39. CONSUMPTION
SOCIAL
CONNECTIONS
IDENTITY
SOCIAL COMMERCE

40. Most importantly,
SOCIAL COMMERCE E-COMMERCE=

41. Social Commerce is a seamless entry of the market into
my world while, I am connecting with my friends
In contrast,
e-commerce is still a planned excursion for consumption

42. Potentially unlimited consumption opportunities
• Primary intent of being on the platform is engaging with the world. The market happens
to be there
• With algorithms already predicting & dictating our content consumption, a market on
these platforms will be constantly adapting itself to suit my curated identity
• Attribution of ‘meaningful consumption’ tag, even when it is impulsive as it fits my world

44. Linear consumer journey has evolved into a truly
multi-device & multi-platform one

46. ‘Experience’ becomes a way of navigation
• Both for arriving at a point of consumption as
well as the process of consumption itself
• Stickiness of the SM platform itself, the more
time gets spent on a particular app, the better
are the chances of ‘natives’ moving from
‘content to conversations to commerce’
• Content rich timelines of brands, undoubtedly
helps this process

47. Social commerce owns the entire buyer journey
CONNECTIONS
INFLUENCERS
BRANDS PROVIDE VISUAL STIMULATION THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS

48. And now, shortening it too
IMMIDEACY OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION

49. And now, shortening it too
IMMIDEACY OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION
A user’s ability to buy natively through Instagram radically shortens the
buyer journey allowing businesses to easily find, inspire and convert a
window shopper into a customer.

50. In the process, creating more conversions

51. Successful social media intervention in commerce already
happening in similar markets

52. Leveraging ‘Built-in social proof’
• ‘Reviews’ in e-commerce has been an important
parameter for making a purchase
• Presence of ratings, even from strangers instils
confidence
• Social commerce gives ratings a whole new degree of
legitimacy
• No. of views/engagements gives an indication to
consumers about the popularity of the product
• These engagements comes from members of the
community, making it much more believable

53. Success, even without a ‘transaction’
• Organic Traffic: Even if users don’t buy anything from it, users will be left with an impression which
can be developed into a purchase at another stage.
• Building Reach: There are billions of social media users logged in every day, who are actively looking
for potential consumption opportunities. Brand visibility will aid that decision
• Creating Trust : Products which have been bought, shared and reviewed amongst friends help build a
deeper relationship with brands’ followers and give them a better experience
• Omnichannel: . If a user spots something they love on their timeline, social commerce gives them the
opportunity to click through to purchase straight away. Ensuring one smooth journey to purchase.
• Ever growing Community: Social commerce thrives on community. Discover, buy, share, influence,
repeat

54. Implications for small brands

55. For small brands, get to this at the earliest

56. Interaction first, purchase later
Referrals to influence desires

57. To sum up,
The founding principles of the Social Commerce buzz, checks out with respect to Indian
Consumer Behaviour. Hence, the potential to grow big can not be refuted
However, in the truer sense of the term, it is still Social ‘enabled’ Commerce
The ideally true Social Commerce will show up when the platforms give any user the ability to
upload a selected merchandise, tag the product and any user can click the same & land on
the buying page

58. References & Suggestions
• Excerpts from Futurebrands Pvt. Ltd (Brand Consulting & Communication Strategy Firm) Case
Studies
• With key inputs from Nymphea Noronha
• Public Profiles on Instagram, Facebook & TikTok
• Brand Pages on Social Media
• NOTE: Images & graphs are for illustrative purposes only