Social Shopping & D2C

Miguel Afonso Gonçalves – Copywriter and Travel Blogger – The title of this article points straight to two terms that matter in today's digital landscape: social shopping and direct-to-consumer (D2C). Before explaining what they are, allow me to add to the mystery: millennials (and not only them) seem to be fans! Let's start with social shopping. In the 1990s, with the arrival of the Internet and its rapid spread across the world, a new opportunity for brands to do business appeared – e-commerce. It caught on immediately and, all over the world, companies signed up to the new formula.

Miguel Afonso Gonçalves – Copywriter and Travel Blogger – The title of this article points straight to two terms that matter in today's digital landscape: social shopping and direct-to-consumer (D2C). Before explaining what they are, allow me to add to the mystery: millennials (and not only them) seem to be fans! Let's start with social shopping. In the 1990s, with the arrival of the Internet and its rapid spread across the world, a new opportunity for brands to do business appeared – e-commerce. It caught on immediately and, all over the world, companies signed up to the new formula. Almost thirty years later, the social media phenomenon seems to have ushered in a new dynasty – social shopping – while at the same time driving the direct-to-consumer model. So what does this term actually mean?

I think the expression speaks for itself: it's the mechanism or act of buying through social media, and it's nothing more than a branch of e-commerce. According to a recent analysis by Social Media Today, 55% of social media users made a purchase through these platforms in 2020 – a figure clearly influenced by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Even so, a word of warning: it's worth keeping an eye on how this trend develops, because it may well be here to stay.

Social media has made every brand more visible, and the proof is that, according to the same study, 24% of users discovered new brands because they were recommended on social media – plus the 19% who bought a product through an influencer's post.

If you're still not convinced to give this model a go, here are some of the other advantages that come with it:

1. Treat social media and the social shopping model as a teaser for what your online shop has to offer. Use links/buttons/calls to action to drive traffic to your website. After all, who hasn't come across the now familiar “swipe up” or “link in bio”?
2. It's an open line of communication with your target audience. Is there a simpler way to answer questions from potential customers?
3. It can turn a communications or advertising campaign into an immediate purchase, with no extra steps. You'll be shortening the customer's decision-making and buying process, stopping competing brands from getting in ahead of you later on!

Social Shopping: the birthplace of D2C

This phenomenon has been fuelling the growth of a new marketing and business model. Alongside the more established B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business), we now have D2C – direct-to-consumer.

What is it? How does it relate to the social shopping experience? Is it right for your brand or your business? Let's start with a brief definition.

Direct-to-consumer is the business model based on producing a good or product in-house and selling it to the end consumer through your own distribution channels. Confusing? What's the difference from B2C?

In fact, many brands and businesses that describe themselves as B2C could fit perfectly well into this model. To keep it simple, the main difference lies in the presence of intermediaries. A good example is food and drink producers, who generally rely on an intermediary (large retail outlets, e.g. hypermarkets) to sell their products to the end consumer.

E-commerce, however – and in this particular case, social shopping – removes the intermediary, and the producing brand can create its own strategies, communicate with the end consumer and sell to them directly.

Looking at the data being published, it's clear that the millennial and Gen Z generations regularly show disruptive buying behaviour compared with previous generations, i.e. they look more often for alternatives to the traditional players in the market (particularly in food and textiles/fashion).

These tend to be options that meet the main criteria driving these generations' purchases: sustainability, authenticity, good value for money and, above all, an appealing buying experience that fits their digital habits. Almost 70% of millennials take a brand's values into account when making a purchase – compared with 52% of all adults in the United States. On the one hand…

Stop and think: how many new brands have appeared in these segments in recent years working exclusively through social media? The advantages are clear:

• Fewer or no intermediaries;
• More contact with the end consumer – which means easier access to more and better data to work with later;
• Personalisation;
• Potential increase in revenue;
• Better-defined communications and marketing strategies;

On the other hand,

There are, of course, downsides too, and any potential disadvantages need to be weighed up when choosing the best strategy. Can your brand handle distribution on its own, efficiently and effectively? Can it take on the communications and marketing effort for the brand and its products? Do you have the tools you need to build your online presence? The future

We live in a time when the millennial generation is already fully independent and “owns its ideas”. But a new era is approaching, in which the first digital natives – Generation Z – will be driving the shift in paradigm.

The demands on brands to satisfy these new potential customers will only grow. Digital will no longer be an option – it will be a must – and D2C may well be one of the first differentiators in winning a place in the “Z market”.