The emergence of social media in ecommerce

The emergence of paid social media advertisements in terms of helping ecommerce firms to achieve exponential sales growth is a given thing.  Study reveals that in a day, on an average, an individual spends an hour and 40 minutes on the internet browsing through social media websites like Facebook, Twitter Google+ etc. It is also a fact that the number of online shoppers in the US alone would cross 217 million this year. Paid social media advertisements and private messaging have replaced the age old print advertisements seen on daily newspapers and hoardings kept on the storefront.Paid advertisementsPaid advertisements websites like Facebook offer a slew of customized options such as geography, preferences and analytics. Therefore, it has become mandatory for the ecommerce players to rely on paid advertisement site like Facebook to increase their sales. Facebook reported advertisement revenue in excess of $7 billion last year.According to William Harris, an ecommerce growth consultant for elumynt.com, ecommerce brands will invest more on paid social media advertisements this year and the trend would continue in the following months as well. Instead of paying for advertisements on Google Shopping, it is therefore mandatory for the ecommerce firms to find niche audience on FB, Instagram and Pinterest. It is easy to place advertisement on these websites and to track the return on advertising.

Private messagingThe newest emerging trend is private messaging services. Applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger report a phenomenal increase in the number of private messaging, running into the billions.As people are on the move, businesses also have to follow suit and big brands are finding their way into private messaging through chat bots, which acts as a artificial intelligence personalities, that can simulate real conversations, are able to answer questions related to the products, even offer recommendations besides resolving customer complaints.The number of customers opting for chat bots is growing by the day. Venturebeat.com says that 49.4% of online buyers would prefer to transact through a 24/7 messaging service than to rely on phone. More brands are looking into chat bots services as a supplementary channel to reach directly to the customers. What is more, top private messaging services are now offering financial integration as well. Be it opening up WeChat and chatting with a brand AI representative or buying an item without closing the app once are the realm of possibility that is going to be a reality this year.In-app buyingWith the increase number of ecommerce players, it has become more cumbersome to buy or access products. The ecommerce sites which take a long time to load have higher bounce rates and it is obvious that the online stores with clunky interfaces sell less. Now customers have options of buying products through Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. If Apple Pay receives larger acceptance, there is every possibility of experiencing phenomenal increase in the number of impulse purchase. Once swiped through Apple Pay, your favorite brand would be delivered to your door at less time. So, what is imperative for the ecommerce firms to boost their fortunes is to have a combination of selling their products through social networks, along with solid advertisement presence on paid social media sites, besides having easy buying process.Furthermore, this year, social medial, besides playing a pivotal role in ecommerce, it also plays a crucial role in all aspects of our social life. With the introduction of new social network technologies and powerful advertising tools such as chat bots and in-app purchasing, along with improved design, these ecommerce companies will become easier and bigger than ever.