Why more retailers should be focused on Social Commerce in Singapore

Social Commercial or sCommerce as it is known is the next big digital sales tool in Singapore. In one of the most socially connected countries in the world it’s only logical that sCommerce should start to be used by companies trying to create more effective digital marketing strategies.

sCommerce is basically new online retail models or marketing strategies that incorporate established social networks and/or peer-to-peer communication to drive sales.

Although the term is new, the activity is not. eBay, a peer-to-peer selling platform founded in 1995, is one of them. Epilogue, a 13-year-old site that allows users to post, discuss, and sell their own fantasy and sci-fi art, is another. There are various types of sCommerce; here are seven of them:

1. Peer-to-peer sales platforms (eBay, Etsy, Amazon Marketplace): Community-based marketplaces, or bazaars, where individuals communicate and sell directly to other individuals.
2. Social network-driven sales (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter): Sales driven by referrals from established social networks, or take place on the networks themselves (i.e. through a "shop" tab on Facebook).
3. Group buying (Groupon, LivingSocial): Products and services offered at a reduced rate if enough buyers agree to make the purchase.
4. Peer recommendations (Amazon, Yelp, JustBoughtIt): Sites that aggregate product or service reviews, recommend products based on others' purchasing history (i.e. "Others who bought item x also bought item y.").
5. User-curated shopping (Pinterest, The Fancy, Lyst): Shopping-focused sites where users create and share lists of products and services for others to shop from.
6. Participatory commerce (Threadless, Kickstarter, CutOnYourBias): Consumers become involved directly in the production process through voting, funding, and collaboratively designing products.
7. Social shopping (Motilo, Fashism, GoTryItOn): Sites that attempt to replicate shopping offline with friends by including chat and forum features for exchanging advice and opinions.

No one has cracked sCommerce yet in Singapore but according to Gartner, 74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide their purchases, so this is clearly an area that any online retailer needs to focus on if they are to maximise sales in Singapore.

Some of the latest trends include building social networks around e-commerce platforms, partnering with brands, and otherwise transforming social commerce's strengths for Pinterest-style digital window-shopping.

It's not about click-to-buy: Social commerce is not simply transactional — it's not just about offering a click-to-buy link next to an offer on Facebook. There’s more to it than that and that needs greater thought and more creative marketing.

The key to driving sales is to help connect the funnel end-to-end, or to connect different mediums — say, social media and TV — to help coax a consumer down the funnel.

Retargeted advertising may be one missing link. It enables social commerce to connect the sales funnel from end-to-end by serving adverts that remind users of products they have browsed but have not yet purchased.

Clever merchandising and user interfaces allow for merchant-to-consumer relationships that can help push a consumer towards a sale. Referrals are also very important. Potential sCommerce sites have a large enough audience, even a low referral and conversion rate will result in a good revenue stream.

Singapore has the social penetration through the millions on facebook, Instagram, twitter, tumblr, line, wechat, whatsapp, and more but has yet to connect them to e-commerce opportunities to produce a really impactful sCommerce campaign.

One of the main benefits of sCommerce in such a socially connected country like Singapore is by knowing more about the consumer brands are able to give them more relevant promotions leading to higher conversions.

Conversion rates can literally go from 1-5% to over 50% with the right social data. Social chatter can also be used to identify others in the referral group that would like that product, the ‘refer a friend’ system but in a highly targeted way.