A new research study by MAGNA, in partnership with Snap and Reprise Commerce has revealed the direction of travel for social commerce in key markets around the globe.
What Does the Future of Social Commerce Entail? comprises qualitative insights from five hour-long focus groups and quantitative data from 8,000 people surveyed across four countries: the US, the UK, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.
The findings, covered in AdAge and Adweek, suggest that for 67% of respondents, social media is already their favorite method of product discovery followed by online marketplaces (52%) and search engines (48%).
Shopping via social media is already popular – particularly among younger generations – and this trend is set to ramp up in the coming years, but platforms must take the privacy concerns of would-be shoppers seriously.
36% of respondents said they were nervous to share their personal financial information with social media platforms, meaning brands and social platforms will have to work hard to prove their trustworthiness.
Brands and social platforms are already looking to innovative tech solutions to build trust in the social commerce purchase journey, and the report suggests ground could be made up in this area, as 69% of people feel more confident about their online purchase when using virtual experiences, such as AR try-on.
In fact, 64% of respondents claimed they would be less likely to return a product they’d experienced virtually before purchasing. This demonstrates the potential for tech to positively influence consumer trust in the social commerce experience, whilst also driving down return rates, and boosting brand profitability along the way.
“As consumers become increasingly open to AR features while social-shopping, brands would be wise to introduce features like try-on lenses for clothing and in-room product placement options to test home-décor items,” said Glen Conybeare, Global President of Reprise Commerce, in AdAge.
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