Ever looked at the reasons why your website traffic is in decline, and why it will further decline in the future?

I started writing about the rise of 'Social Commerce' a number of years ago. 

It came to my attention some 6 years ago when I was asked to help a young start-up fashion business who had grown from very tiny beginnings by one person (single parent) and a £50 budget, yup, you read that right just £50 a whole lot of enthusiasm, and a much savvier understanding of how to leverage 'social media' than every corporate out there. 

'Social Selling' is about understanding the buying journey, it requires you to, well, be social, authentic, inform, educate, listen, all whilst connecting to and building a like minded tribe, and the last thing you do is try to sell upfront.

Social Commerce is simply the transactional part of that process today it's purpose is to distract the purchaser from having to go to your very expensive SEO driven eCommerce website!. 

However, if you see it as a way to carry on with your spammy advertise, promote, and talk about yourself mindset you're already outdated. 

Without knowing it at the time this bright lady had tapped into the real power of social media, she had worked out all she had to do was not sell, but to be social.

This business had grown exponentially without lots of resource or finance, it didn't have a highly polished, sexy, SEO friendly website, all her sales orders were fulfilled from her home. 

It was built like so many others off an amazing presence on 'social media' and had garnered a following of circa 2m people who were hungry to see the next instalment of her 'social' post, where she and her growing team invested in listening and responding to feedback.

What started out with sharing her style, looks, and wardrobe with her friends had become a way of helping to subsidise her income, little did she know the fire she had lit. 

2 years later and this business was turning over some £10k per week and she needed help to manage the growth.

There are currently 8.4 million British consumers shopping via social media, with Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat being the most popular channels. When you compare the UK with the rest of the world, it is undoubtedly lagging behind. While the global average is at 35%, the proportion of UK businesses selling through social media is only 24%.

If you're a big brand retailer you might fall into the foolish mindset of thinking 'so what'. 

Well, here's something to consider - what if?;

Q) There are millions of this kind of person on social media all around the world selling the same products and services as you do?

A) This is what is known as a 'You are fucked' fact!!!!

What we see when we benchmark companies on social media is simply a transfer of the 'advertise and promote' mindset that got them where they are today. 

No employee or brand engagement, nothing from the leadership team, nothing that draws me into the culture, ethos, and values of the company. 

And worst of all, no sign of anyone listening to (if any) feedback.

So it's no wonder that with this kind of mindset we see retailers and brands thinking that posting pictures of this weeks 'special offer', or posting stuff that's all about the brand, whilst completely ignoring ME.

Is it any wonder they then scratch their head and ask why they don't get the same traction as these bright young millenials.

Social Commerce without a shadow of a doubt will not only disrupt your business, it will completely change what you assume eCommerce and retailing is really all about. 

If you are one of the few who haven't yet heard, or took the time to better understand the growing phenomenon of the latest platform 'TikTok' I produced a short blog you can access here

This my friends is the future, and the 'platforms' have recognised this opportunity and are now cutting themselves in for a slice as per the 'Paypal' research in the link below. 

Is it going to be a part of your future?

There's a cliche that says 'out of adversity comes opportunity' - but..... only if you have an 'opportunity mindset'.

Social Commerce is already disrupting the known retail supply chain, it's having a huge impact on all forms of eCommerce websites and Apps, and most of that innovation is coming out of China.

Today’s trends are made by neither brands nor media. Social commerce puts this democratisation of creating trends on steroids, as anything can be sold everywhere, by anyone and to anyone. 

Social commerce is the most direct and immediate form of relationship between people and products, and it begets the question of whether people now cultivate their own personalities in order to sell products and build a community, brands need to figure out what it is that they are doing. 

Retailers are getting killed by their own customers. People are increasingly more likely to build their own brand—and develop their own products, services and experiences—than to endorse or be sponsored by someone else’s.