Social Commerce: what is it, what are the advantages and disadvantages?

If we think about the advantages, for example, from the customer's point of view, it is undeniable that the first aspect to consider is ease of use. This ease comes from the fact that customers are already very familiar with the interface of the social network, and making a purchase will not require any additional effort. On the other hand, if we move to external e-commerce sites, it is equally true that each brand will have a different platform from all the others, and this can be an obstacle, especially for less tech-savvy customers. On social media, however, the e-commerce space of one brand or another will not have differences.

Although important, this is certainly not the main advantage for a customer. In fact, there is another aspect that is much more relevant, which is integration, meaning the ability to have a shopping experience without the need to navigate to another site while staying within the pages of their favorite social network.

This is actually also the first advantage for companies, which find themselves managing entirely new dynamics that can bring enormous benefits to their business. How could it be otherwise if the social network suddenly became both the tool for finding potential customers and the one for selling? Indeed, to be essential, this is exactly how things are. Before the era of Social Commerce, a platform like Facebook was used only as a space to convey advertising messages and implement marketing strategies; now it transforms into an integrated solution where one can sell, reach existing customers, and even find new ones. Is there anything else needed to justify the strength of this solution?

Now let’s try to put together a simple list that summarizes all the functionalities that a company can obtain from a single platform:

• Maintain relationships with old customers;
• Implement marketing strategies for acquiring new customers;
• Implement marketing strategies for sales;
• Launch promotions for old and new customers;
• Provide customer care services;
• Encourage customer engagement before, during, and after the purchase.

In short, the advantages for a company are countless, and this explains why sales spaces on social networks are multiplying every day. If you think about it, from a traditional perspective of sales processes, the elements we just listed would require several different tools.

If sales essentially only require an e-commerce platform, offering customer care services requires the implementation of a CRM, which at the same time allows for managing customer records and tracking the actions of those who are not yet customers. Then you need to equip yourself with marketing software, so a tool for newsletters will be necessary, and then you must account for managing the social media where advertising messages are conveyed, purchases are stimulated, and products are promoted.

In short, managing all this infrastructure is not exactly simple. Although a social network does not allow for the actual implementation of each of these aspects, it is true that many things can be contained within it without too many problems.

Apparently, then, the concept of social commerce seems to offer a highly innovative space that does not fear competition and that could potentially replace any other solution in the future. Will it really be like that? We do not know, but we certainly cannot overlook the other side of the coin, namely the disadvantages that this solution, however effective and efficient, inevitably brings with it.

In this case, the disadvantages can be borne both by customers (very few) and by the company. Among the two protagonists of the sales processes, there is, among the disadvantages, a point of contact: the extreme limitation of the purchase/sale space. In other words, as convenient and effective as it may be, purchasing on Facebook will still be limiting compared to considering the entire global landscape of e-commerce. Conversely, it is not said that for a company, limiting itself only to users of one or more social networks can be a good sales strategy, especially in the long term. Diversifying, for both, could be the most correct choice.

To this aspect, we can add two more disadvantages for companies:

• Inventory management;
• Integration with other applications.

These are both very technical processes. Anyone with even minimal experience in sales knows very well that inventory management is a fundamental part of the job, to the point that it can compromise relationships with customers when they purchase something that has already been sold. Well, at the current state, the social commerce system does not lend itself very well to managing one’s inventory, so it is necessary to be aware that a very artisanal approach to the problem is required. This may be indifferent for a small business but is not for a large company.

The same goes for integration with other applications. We mentioned this earlier: companies usually use many other IT tools, such as a CRM, inventory management software, or other types of software useful for managing various business processes. The lack of integration with these software can compromise the smooth functioning of the entire operation.

One last note: care must be taken not to confuse the concept of social commerce with that of social shopping. While the former indicates an integrated system of sales and acquisition, the latter refers to something much simpler, which simply means giving visibility to purchases made both offline and online.

In conclusion, it is certainly beneficial to cultivate the process of social commerce but without neglecting all the other sales opportunities because one thing we can still be sure of: diversification is the true secret of success.