The rise of Social Commerce, shifting consumer preferences, and the trend of online shopping have all supported the growth of D2C brands in India. Thanks to the turn of events in the last two years, consumer consumption behavior has gone through a huge shift. The fact that India has an internet penetration of about 852 million users accessing the internet and accordingly, a very high number of social media users have nudged the D2C brands to build a social presence.

When customers find something, they like and want to buy, it makes sense to make the purchasing procedure for that item easier in-app as part of the native experience. It is when social media serves as the ideal channel for accelerating purchasing behavior by presenting the appropriate offer to the right consumer at the right moment and is driven by the customer data profiles that support these scalable recommendations to almost any audience.

According to reports, online stores with a social media presence, such as a Facebook and/or Instagram account, have 32 percent more sales than the average store that is not present on social media. Additionally, according to Forbes, sales through social media platforms were approximately $560 billion dollars in 2020, which is forecasted to grow to $2.9 trillion by 2026. Undoubtedly, social commerce has allowed D2C brands to flourish in terms of recognition and revenue.

It is this capability of digitalization that has made direct-to-consumer brands today rise to success and gain popularity in such a short span of time. E-commerce plays a critical role in maximizing its growth because of its ability to provide a direct line to its target audience without time or range limits, allowing the brand to reach a large number of people in a short period of time. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the digital world has multiplied in the post-pandemic times, both brands and consumers have seen a drastic change in their selling-purchasing patterns. E-commerce has transformed into one unparalleled platform with a wide field that embraces every type and size of business.

What is Social Commerce?

Customers today seek more than just a good product. The discerning consumer today seeks a seamless, happy shopping experience – from a good pre-purchase decision to an excellent post-purchase experience. Social commerce is where the sellers use social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook as vehicles to sell their products and services. This enables them to sell directly at the touchpoints where the people consume content, hence enhancing the buying process by enabling the consumers to complete the entire process without having to leave their preferred apps.

Engagement Vectors of Social Commerce

1. Content-driven - Unique content created by brands or individuals drives authentic discovery & engagement. For instance, social media users are discovering new interests & experiences via shoppable posts, mini stores, and in-app stores on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to name a few.

2. Experience-driven - Through the experience-driven channels, shoppers participate in interactive shopping experiences along the journey, through present viral processes such as gamification, AR/VR, or live streaming.

3. Network-driven - Nowadays, people are buying and/or selling using their existing social networks. Through methods such as group buying, social shopkeeper, referrals, and second-hand marketplace, people leverage their network to obtain bulk discounts, drive sales, and/or earn commissions.

D2C Brands and Social Commerce

Social Commerce opens up new revenue streams for D2C brands, as it enables the brands to develop new shopping experiences, connect in new ways and engage influencers/creators. Not only that, with the creator community on social media platforms, brands have a channel to build more trust amongst the consumers. When influencers create a video or post talking about a brand, they are providing information about the brand and its products/services, thus, building credibility and trust among the users.

Furthermore, improved audience ad segmentation and targeting on social media, customer awareness, and deeper analytics have generated yet another seismic potential, all of which can be traced back to the advent of social commerce. Wishful thinking may imply an indirect paradigm shift away from Google as the world's most powerful advertising platform and toward Facebook, given that consumers spend more time on mobile apps than on mobile web browsers. When done correctly, social selling boosts a company's position with existing customers and, more crucially, allows it to attract new customers who are interested in new social purchasing formats and experiences.

How can D2C Brands Capitalize Through Social Commerce?

1. Understand the Customers’ Social Behavior - The first and most important step in putting together a social commerce plan is to learn about your customers. Where do they spend the most time? Knowing which social media channels, the target demographic uses the most might assist brands in setting up their social commerce strategy. Age is the most important factor in deciding who's who on social media sites. Understanding the age and social media platform breakdown of users, as well as other user demographics, will aid brands in making better decisions.

2. Create Shoppable Content - Brands may monetize their social media channels by making it clear that followers can shop the things featured in the posts right away. Instagram, for instance, has Shopping Tags that appear when a follower first scrolls over the post and then taps it. Tag link direct straight to product pages or in-app catalog, allowing users to go quickly from photo to checkout.

3. Create Video Content to Engage Gen Z and Millennial Shoppers – According to a report by CISCO, by the end of 2022, videos will account for more than 82 percent of all consumer internet traffic. With the rapid growth of video-centric social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, a growing number of D2C brands are turning to this medium to connect with their consumers. To engage users, brands are moving towards the use of themes like bite-sized product demos, user testimonials, sneak peeks, and so on.

4. Build a Social Community and Promote User-Generated Content - A social community is built through interactions. A brand can leverage various social media features to interact with its customers, while also nudging them to create content that exclusively promotes the brand. This can be done through challenges or contests which are held on the social media handles of the brands every now and then.

5. Leverage the Large Network of Content Creators - Influencers are reinventing themselves as content creators since today's social media consumers place a higher value on brands that entertain them. Content creators are prized for their ability to seamlessly combine businesses and their products into entertaining and engaging content that seems less like advertising and more like watching your favorite show. When a D2C company hires a content creator, they gain access to that person's capacity to engage with their audience. The capacity of creators to truly convey their brand and products can increase exposure, engagement, and conversions.

Beyond just knowing what your consumers want, it is also important to understand that experience and emotions are also an important part of what a brand offers. Social Commerce provides an end-to-end experience to the consumers because the experience of purchasing without being directed to another platform empathetically saves a lot of their time and efforts, which helps to build an emotional connection where the consumer knows you value every ounce of their attention and presence.