Social commerce platforms help companies improve online sales by using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. This type of software allows sellers to connect and engage with buyers and influencers through social media by using user-generated content, shoppable posts, live streams, referrals, gamification, and sometimes augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) technology. Social commerce platforms are used by marketing teams to create and monitor social media campaigns and product managers to ensure that the data shared on social media is accurate and complies with brand guidelines.
This type of software should not be confused with social media management and social media marketing solutions, which do not focus on e-commerce. Social commerce platforms integrate with product information management (PIM) software to sync product data and e-commerce platforms to process orders placed on social media platforms.
To qualify for inclusion in the Social Commerce Platforms category, a product must:
- Manage multiple types of social media content such as text, video, documents, and images
- Provide social media engagement options such as live stream, chat, and private messaging
- Include features for social shopping such as shoppable links and social stores
- Deploy and monitor social media e-commerce campaigns across multiple platforms
- Embed user-generated content, reviews, and social media feedback in social shops
- Personalize the shopping experience by providing recommendations or localized content
- Manage promotions and deals available exclusively on social media platforms
- Analyze campaign performance, user sentiment, and product sales on social media
