What Is Social Commerce And Why Does It Matter?

Social commerce is similar to e-commerce in that it describes the buying and selling of products and services on the internet. However, social commerce is more narrowly defined as the process of selling products and services on social media platforms.

Major social media platforms have massive user bases, which draw millions of visitors every day. By engaging in social commerce, you can capitalize on the popularity of social media platforms and get your brand in front of a global audience.

Through social commerce, social media users can discover your business, browse your offerings, and make purchases—all on a social media platform.

If you don’t already have a social commerce strategy in place or you want to enhance your existing strategy, this article is for you. Social commerce can be a lucrative opportunity that allows you to grow your audience and make more sales.

Read on to learn more about what social commerce is, why social commerce is important, and social commerce best practices to follow.

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is a branch of e-commerce where brands market and sell products directly through social media platforms. The entire buying process happens within the app. Shoppers can find your products, learn about them, and complete a purchase without ever leaving their feeds or the app.

What is the difference between social commerce and e-commerce?

While e-commerce and social commerce are certainly related, there is a distinct difference between the two.

Whereas e-commerce describes the buying and selling of goods and services online, social commerce specifically refers to transactions that take place on online social media platforms.

Essentially, e-commerce can take place on a company website, an online store, or even on a business’ app. Social commerce, on the other hand, only takes place on networking or social media platforms.

Why should you leverage social commerce for your business?

With billions of people using social media worldwide, the opportunity to reach new customers and drive sales is hard to ignore. Social commerce puts your products directly in front of an audience that's already scrolling.

Here are some of the biggest reasons to build a social commerce strategy:

• Easier shopping experience: Social commerce removes friction from the buying process. Instead of redirecting users to an external site, they can browse and purchase without ever leaving the platform—which means fewer abandoned carts and a smoother path to checkout.
• Expanded reach: A presence on social media puts your brand in front of users around the world, including people who may have never found you through a traditional search. Over time, this helps you grow your customer base and build relationships with a much wider audience.
• Valuable data and insights: Most social platforms give sellers access to data about who's engaging with their content and products. You can use that information to refine your targeting, reach the right shoppers, and even gather direct feedback through polls and surveys.
• A sense of community: Social media is built for connection, and that carries over into shopping. Online shoppers can share your products, tag friends, and engage with your brand directly. That kind of interaction also encourages user-generated content — real people posting about your products in an authentic way — which builds trust and keeps new customers coming through the door.
• Real revenue potential: Social commerce is a growing market, and businesses that get in early have a real advantage. The projected growth of the industry means there's a genuine financial opportunity for brands willing to invest in a solid strategy.

How AI and visual discovery are changing social commerce

AI has quietly become one of the most powerful forces behind social commerce success. Most major platforms now use AI assistants to analyze browsing behavior, past purchases, and social media engagement to serve users highly personalized product recommendations. Instead of users having to search for what they want, the right products find them, which makes your social media strategy more effective without requiring extra effort on your end.

Visual search is another area where things have shifted. Features like "shop the look" allow users to tap on an image and immediately find shoppable products tied to what they see. For brands, this means that strong visual content isn't just good for aesthetics — it directly supports social commerce efforts by making products discoverable in new ways. Optimizing your images for visual search is worth the time, especially as more platforms build these tools into their native experience.

What's also worth paying attention to is the role of social sentiment in shaping AI-driven recommendations. Platforms track how users react to content and feed that data back into their algorithms. This is why influencer marketing and authentic user-generated content are crucial. Positive sentiment around your brand signals to AI systems that your products are worth surfacing, which can significantly extend your reach without relying solely on paid social media tools.

Best practices for an effective social commerce strategy

Now that you know what social commerce is and how it can benefit your business, you may be interested in how to use it.

In order to design and execute an effective social commerce strategy that resonates with potential customers, you must keep a few things in mind.

Below are social commerce best practices to follow as you begin to engage in social media marketing and sell your products and services online.

Choose the right platform for your business

Every social platform is different, and some may be more accommodating to your business than others. For instance, Facebook is a social media platform where text posts tend to be very popular, whereas Instagram is a more visual social platform dominated by images and videos.

Each social media channel offers different social commerce tools and capabilities as well. Facebook, in particular, offers a range of social commerce features.

Using Facebook, you can create a business account and set up a Facebook shop, which can act as your brand’s online storefront. In your Facebook shop, users can browse your offerings and make a purchase without leaving the platform.

The bottom line is that you should choose a social commerce platform that aligns with your business goals. Review the social commerce features that each platform has to offer and take a look at the type of audience that each platform attracts. Pinpoint the platforms used by your target audience and create social commerce campaigns on those channels.

Engage your audience

Social commerce can make your customers feel closer to your brand, and this, in turn, can help you better engage with customers.

Social media platforms give users the opportunity to like your content, comment on your posts, and even interact with your brand directly. You can engage with customers in comment sections and customers can send you a direct message if they have a question. This type of engagement can help you win customer loyalty and expand your online presence.

Use a chatbot

Chatbots can be a very valuable tool, especially if you consistently deal with a lot of customer inquiries.

One of the best parts about chatbots is that they can respond to customers immediately and potentially provide quick solutions. You can design a chatbot to answer basic customer questions and even perform certain actions, such as retrieving specific order details and processing those orders.

Keep in mind that, in most cases, a chatbot shouldn’t be your only customer service option. You should still have customer service specialists on staff who can help customers resolve more complex problems.

However, chatbots can potentially save your customer service team a lot of time by sorting out basic issues and engaging with customer inquiries.

Be creative

Creativity is key to any successful social commerce strategy.

Being creative in your social media marketing tactics and digital merchandising allows your business to create great online shopping experiences for your customers. Don’t be afraid to explore the full range of social commerce features that many of the major social platforms offer, including emerging or experimental features.

Use Mailchimp to build your social commerce strategy

With a social commerce strategy in place, you can optimize the customer journey on social media. Leveraging social commerce platforms enables your business to use data to market to a targeted audience and make sales directly on social media. In doing so, you can expand your audience and more closely engage with customers.

Mailchimp is here to help support your social commerce goals. With Mailchimp’s all-in-one marketing platform, you can create everything from targeted social media ads to specialized landing pages. Try Mailchimp today to see how our tools can help you build stronger relationships with your audience.