29
Mar

The Unfolding Role of Social Media in Ecommerce

Social media and e-commerce cannot be separated for the simple reason that they are both available over the internet. The advent of e-commerce necessitated an increase in the use of social media. Here is an important point to note- The only place where you have communities of people who can buy what e-commerce has to offer is social media. This is why social media became the most effective marketing tool for e-commerce.

There is no doubt that e-commerce platforms will begin to use social media as their primary customer service touchpoint. Proactive e-commerce platforms are already using the social media platforms as a touchpoint with customers, but they are not available round the clock as in the case of call centers. Many e-commerce platforms still operate the social media touchpoints like the typical business hour resumption. 

It may be difficult for many people to believe that social media platforms will become the main touchpoint for customers. Maybe you are one of them. Let’s face it, out of the 7.9 billion people on earth, a total of 3.96 billion are currently using social media and still counting. Facebook now has about 2.8 billion active users per month. While these may be on the world view, the question is; where else can a business have access to this high number of people? Absolutely none.   

Using Facebook as an example out of the social media platforms that we have. Facebook has a workplace platform that businesses can use both for internal communication and external communication. Well, without a second thought, that’s one of the unfolding role of social media with e-commerce. Most communications will soon be moved to Facebook. And once the Facebook workplace is well adopted. It won’t be long before other social media platforms begin to incorporate things like that. At least Slack is an example at the moment. 

If you look at this carefully, you will discover that social media’s role in e-commerce is centered around communication. This communication is then used to enhance sales and branding. This means that there will be a lot more than we currently have; there will be an eruption of new branding strategies for e-commerce businesses via social media platforms. It will go beyond using the ads system available on these social media platforms.  

With the look of things, it will not be out of place to see e-commerce platforms come up with all-encompassing social media platforms. Well, if you are a good web developer, get to work. This is not a forum, as some e-commerce platforms have an online forum for their customer. Simultaneously, this piece may not contain all the new features of the encompassing e-commerce platforms but expect something that will conveniently integrate e-commerce and social media with lots of business tools. At least, no one can deny that e-commerce and social media are both our present and future. 

These unfolding roles of social media in e-commerce will be evident in the days to come. A deeper competition is about to rise both in social media and e-commerce, and it is going to be a new world order. What do you think? Do you feel these unfolding roles will crash out the current social media platform? Share your thoughts in the comment section, and don’t forget to share this piece with friends.