Social Mobile Commerce: The Ultimate Seamless Shopping Experience
1. Embrace the ever-emerging integration of social media. The incorporation of social media into e-commerce is a major reason why and how omnichannel marketing is evolving. Overlooking it could result in a missed opportunity to reach millions of consumers who are already actively using it.
2. Use the right social context for your brand. Retailers must be strategic in social media utilization. A brand's user base, product category, offer and context are all factors to take into consideration. Not all social media sites are made the same. For instance, Nordstrom heavily engages customers on Instagram because it's in the business to sell style, which jives well with the visual appeal that the platform captures and evokes.
In the consumable goods realm, Facebook serves as an effective place to remind consumers to buy certain items. For example, Dollar Shave Club's mobile ads on the Facebook app include an actual call-to-action button within the advertisement to prompt the purchase of razors, thus allowing its social media audience to buy directly and instantly, without even having to leave Facebook.
3. Deliver a seamless shopping experience from start to finish. Whatever platform is chosen, the most important part of participating in mobile commerce is to ensure that the customer has an unbroken experience. Preparation is crucial, especially in such a viral medium for sales. Retailers need to equip their fulfillment system to deliver a smooth process, from initial engagement to transaction to finally getting the product into a customer's hands.
Ready for the Future?
Mobile/social outlets present an overarching opportunity for cross-platform integration that will lead to a seamless consumer experience where shopping is ubiquitous. Consumers won't even consciously realize they're being sold an item because their indirect actions of liking, sharing and buying are all meshed into a natural, uninterrupted social activity. So long as retailers incorporate social media into m-commerce and use it to their advantage, the future of retail is on track to a full omnichannel takeover.
