Whenever it comes to trust, we tend to put our faith in familiar people and known faces. This is because we know the person based on our personal experience and trust them more than any other strange face. When it comes to money that is where all the actual influence works. If nobody trusts you, why would they invest in you or your products? These are the basic premises of market forces. Trust is a valuable but hard asset to earn.
In the olden days, people used to communicate and products were promoted based on their experiences. Every organisation strives to gain the trust of consumers. The very first step is to understand how people view your products and how they learn about them. A business that just started, has to convince its customers as most consumers may not be aware of the product or its offering. So the real question becomes - how will they be able to promote it at an individual level?
For instance, imagine a scenario: While walking on the street, you, as a walk-by stranger, noticed someone’s saree and could not help but ask them about it- how would they answer?
-- If this was before the internet era, she would probably name the shop where she purchased and would probably talk about it and other products she probably looked at. As a result, it could be concluded that she promoted the product, and since she is in your social circle, you may be tempted to purchase a similar product.
During the internet and ecommerce age, this same behaviour still exists. Just the difference is that earlier people liked the products and prices they used to shop whereas now people can compare the price and material.
Soon, just like flowing water, these social platforms started growing in business aspects and became a free space where most people started to promote their products/services. Nowadays social platforms play an essential role in marketing for firms. This eventually helps the individual and growth further.
Technology has become an integral part of our lives. Customers of today are most influenced by whatever they see online and influenced by messages and posts that appear on social media. They can even chat, comment, and be in touch with their long-time friends and physical distance is no longer a barrier for consumers to connect with their friends and family. This connection has spawned off a new type of commerce - social commerce.
Social commerce can influence consumer behaviour since there are influencers, celebrities, and bloggers with a vast fan following. Followers of these influencers believe in their fashion, statements and are even influenced by their lifestyle, dress, and even their thoughts. And most of these influencers promote brands which in turn affect sales of products/services.
Technology has changed rapidly and has made life so easy. The way a regular consumer can connect to the brands and small businesses has just taken marketing to the next level. Online store sales have increased exponentially in the last few years. Organisations have started to adapt to the new Social validation trend that there is a surge in Social Commerce activity.
Social commerce can easily help consumers share a style, design, or even their creative mix and match with others on the same platform showing the item they plan to purchase. Consumers also review feedback from other consumers before making a purchasing decision - be it booking a vacation hotel or purchasing a saree or a product.
A better way of marketing has been provided to the organisation as well as consumers. If you wonder how? Let's look at this from the other end. Being a startup, it would have been difficult to reach as many customers as possible without social media, but nowadays thanks, customers are open about their comments and reviews (when they like or dislike the product) and read all the reviews, and make purchasing decisions.
Companies view social commerce as a boost to the market, while from a consumer perspective, they are getting a huge discount and good products without much hassle. Let's turn the table and look at how consumers are benefited from this social commerce. The offline market has a large chain which is another reason why products face high costs. When it comes to online shopping, consumers are offered huge discounts, comfort, and quality.
Social commerce has changed the way consumers think. When consumers are offered good quality at such a reasonable value while sitting at home, why would anyone run from one store to another? Also based on social marketing, brands/organisations are now aware of what a customer demands, and products are made accordingly.