For 2019, not only is there expected to be a greater increase in the use of social media, but there are hopes that social trade will take off once, which would greatly benefit small businesses.
Social commerce has been a promise so far. Facebook stores, although they have evolved over time since 1-800-Flowers opened the first in July 2009, have been stagnant and several may be the causes of this: that users do not see Facebook as a store but as a connection site, the frequent privacy problems that the large social network has, etc.
However, it slowly seems that Internet users feel increasingly comfortable when making purchases through Facebook, partly because the adoption of this social network is wider, and the time they invest in it is increasing. In that sense, Krista García, analyst at eMarketer, explains it perfectly: “it is not surprising that socializing activities and purchases, which always complement each other in the real world, begin to converge online”.
He adds that “as social media and Facebook in particular, play a more important role in the lives of consumers, people are getting used to carrying out routine tasks such as reading news, viewing videos, listen to music and discover or buy products. Instead of compartmentalizing daily routines, Facebook is used as a single platform. ”
Social media as a sales vehicle still has to go through many tests, but that did not stop in 2011 selling goods for an amount of one billion dollars in the US, according to a study by Booz & Company, estimating that in 2019 the figure triple and that in 2015 it will rise to 14 billion.
In the social media mix, Facebook is presented as the great leader in terms of sales, mainly by offering retailers a huge variety of options to convert users into consumers. The credits of Facebook, the social currency, is one of the keys to this.
On the side of users, the adoption of social commerce is increasingly frequent and the idea of making purchases from Facebook reaches more and more people. An Oracle study found that almost one in five people in North America were going to make a purchase through Facebook, or they had already done so, while 15% were unaware of the possibility of doing so.
However, and it is a number that must be taken into account, a third of the total said that he would never buy products through social networks, a very high figure but with time and adoption can be reversed, as It has happened with many things, beginning with the adoption of social media.
The truth is that Facebook’s role in electronic commerce is in a process of change, as Garcia has explained. “Brands are beginning to realize the possibilities, while users are slowly getting used to mixing brands with their social exchange with friends. Although social media is still more a marketing tool than a sales vehicle, Facebook’s influence on commercial behavior extends beyond making conversions on the spot, “he said.