What is Social Commerce?
Social commerce is the future of ecommerce – it’s where discovery and purchase happen inside the same app. From in-feed shopping and live events to shoppable videos and brand storefronts, social commerce turns everyday scrolling into seamless sales.
The thing that connects them is that the product sale takes place within the social app.
At Novaro, we help our clients take advantage of this unique new sales channel by assisting them in every aspect of building out a seamless social commerce for shoppers.
Get in touch today to start the conversation.
How Is Social Commerce different from Traditional Ecommerce?
Traditional ecommerce was built on friction: multiple ads, website visits, endless review hunting, and then the hope a customer clicked “buy.”
Social commerce removes that friction. Trust signals, peer reviews, and product discovery all live inside the app. In many cases, one compelling video can take a customer from “just found you” to “just bought” in a single tap.
Social commerce has disrupted that expectation.
Now, customers can discover your product and then meet all of their trust criteria by visiting your page and seeing near real-time reviews of your products from other app users. All without leaving the app.
And in many cases, they don’t even need to take this shortened path – compelling ads can lead a customer from discovery to purchase in just 1 click.
Social Commerce is Booming
The stats on social shopping speak volumes. While critics might dismiss social shopping as a fad or a trend, the numbers say otherwise. At Novaro, we see it as the logical progression of the ultimate user-led ecommerce experience.
- $1.2 trillion → projected global social commerce market by 2028
- 73% → of social media users bought in-app in 2024
- 2.5 hours → average daily time spent on social media
- 98% → of UK Gen Z are active social users
This isn’t a trend – it’s the new standard of shopping.
The Psychology: Why It’s So Compelling
What makes social commerce irresistible? It blends social proof, personalisation, and convenience into the ultimate buying experience.
Built-in social proof: Customers can see real reviews, user-generated content, and social validation before buying. They can experience these powerful trust signals right on the app they’re buying from.
AI powers personalised discovery: In–app algorithms serve users highly personalised recommendations based on their past behaviour, interests, and purchase history. This same targeting means higher relevance and higher conversion rates.
Be where your shopper is: You’re capturing customers mid-scroll when they’re at their most relaxed and open to discovery. With over 5 billion people using social media every day, that’s a huge volume of potentially receptive customers.
Offers unrivalled convenience: No app-switching, searching for websites, remembering passwords or reauthenticating. People simply see a product and tap to buy it, in a completely friction-free process.
What Does Social Commerce Look
Like?
Too many people think of it simply as TikTok shop, but this new way of shopping is more than that. At Novaro, we’re dedicated to helping you explore the full range of opportunities available to your brand. Here are some of the different forms that social commerce is currently taking.
How Social Commerce Works on Each Platform
Each social media platform has developed its own approach to social commerce. When your business partners with Novaro, we’ll scope out the best opportunities in social shopping for you from every existing channel. Here’s how they work.
TikTok Shop
How it works: Products integrate directly into TikTok’s interface through product showcase tabs, shoppable videos, and live shopping events. Users can purchase without leaving the app.
What it’s best for: The interest-based algorithm is perfect for allowing brands to gain massive traction quickly. The phrase “TikTok made me buy it” is already a cultural phenomenon.
Instagram Shopping
How it works: Products are tagged in posts, stories, and reels. Users tap on product tags to see details and purchase through the dedicated Instagram Shop tab.
What it’s best for: 83% of shoppers use Instagram for product discovery. It’s the most established social commerce platform, and is particularly effective for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle products.
Facebook Shops
How it works: You can create free, customisable storefronts that display products based on shopper preferences and search history. Shoppers can complete purchases within Facebook or be redirected to your website.
What it’s best for: Facebook has over 3 billion monthly active users, which gives its social ecommerce offering unrivalled reach and targeting.
Pinterest Shopping
How it works: Users pin your products to their boards, then tap to purchase directly from the pin when they’re ready to buy.
What it’s best for: Home decor, fashion, and more aspirational products. The interest-based explore page makes it easy for brands to be found by their ideal shopper.
Snapchat Shopping
How it works: Users try on products virtually through augmented reality. If they like it, they can purchase directly from the experience.
What it’s best for: Beauty and fashion brands. The app’s leading AR capabilities make virtual try-ons incredibly engaging.
Live Shopping
How it works: Sprii is the leading live shopping integration. It allows you to host live shopping events that build product awareness, brand loyalty & sales on a variety of different popular social platforms.
What it’s best for: Connecting with potential customers in real time to stop them scrolling and capture sales.
Which Social Commerce Platforms Should I Sell On?
Each of the emerging social commerce platforms has a slightly different approach and caters to different audiences. That creates a unique opportunity to find your ideal shopper wherever they spend their time and curate the perfect social marketing mix to draw them in.
In-app purchase lends itself to impulse purchasing, which means it can be highly effective for products under £100 in certain fast-moving, trend-led categories like fashion, DIY, beauty & homeware. You can see exactly how much we’ve made for clients in these sectors in their case studies.
However, your industry or product being under-represented in social shopping channels could offer you a distinct advantage as the first to this particular market. We’ve got years of expertise in this area and can help you size up the best placements for your brand.
Upfluence: All-in-one Influencer & Affiliate Marketing Platform
Social commerce is all about sourcing the right affiliates to showcase your products, and Upfluence makes the scouting process simple for ecommerce businesses. Boasting one of the largest global databases of creators, this proprietary software is where brands find, vet, and connect with relevant influencers. It’s live, updated regularly, and includes multiple handy features to uncover collaborations.
- Over 20 filters to discover influencers based on interest, keywords, social platform and follower count
- Integrates directly with Shopify, WooCommerce, Klaviyo, and CRMs to reveal your own customers and brand advocates with affiliate potential
- Centralises every element of running influencer campaigns, from contract handovers and payments to generating discount codes and tracking ROI.
How Novaro Utilises Upfluence
At Novaro, Upflience helps make running cross-channel influencer and affiliate campaigns seamless. From TikTok Shop and Instagram to YouTube, this secure and innovative software is how we brief creators, approve content, manage payments and track sales.
With Upfluence at our fingertips, we reach wider audiences far beyond TikTok, access a pool of niche creators, nd make data-led optimisations while reliably tracking attribution across channels.
The Reality: Be an Early Adopter or Just One of the Pack
Social commerce presents a unique new sales channel, in the same way that PPC did 15 years ago. Don’t let your competitors gain a strong foothold while you’re still figuring out how it works.
Expertise from a social commerce agency like Novaro is your best weapon. We’ll take the headache of the entire setup and management process. That way, you sell more without any additional stress.
Ready to be where your customers are?