Most high street retailers are not utilising social commerce effectively, despite almost three quarters (74%) of the top 50 making it possible for consumers to see featured products when they click on a social image or post, research from marketing technology company Curalate found.
The study examined the take-up of commerce on three major social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest – and the resulting customer experience.
Of the retailers offering social shopping functions, Pinterest is the most popular site with shoppable pins used by 73%, while 62% and 49% have implemented Facebook and Instagram commerce features respectively.
Overall, less than a third (30%) integrate social content on site to increase customer engagement with their brand and drive further product discovery.
“Many retailers offer some form of social shopping function, but most are failing to use social commerce to its full potential,” said Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate. “Social media is both a channel and source of content. To win at social commerce, brands must not only make the channel shoppable but also bring shoppable social content onto their websites to inspire their site visitors as well.”
The research also revealed that of those with social shopping functions, just 16% of retailers facilitate purchasing on all three channels. 38% provide shoppable functions on two, while 46% use one.
