Social Media Trends for 2022: What do ecommerce stores need to know?

The fascinating thing about social media is its ability to evolve with ever-changing consumer behaviours. However, this means it’s pretty easy to fall out of the loop with social media trends for 2022 and what it means for your ecommerce store.

Particularly with the global pandemic accelerating ecommerce and social media trends, it can be challenging to keep up.

And if you’re running an ecommerce store, it’s in your best interest to keep up to date with social media trends. Especially as there were around 11.9 million social commerce buyers in the UK in 2021.

Without further ado, let’s get into the major social media trends for 2022 that ecommerce stores need to know about…

Social Commerce

Social commerce involves selling products directly on social media networks . It can be a great way to create a seamless shopping experience for customers, meaning they’re more likely to convert.

As an ecommerce store, you may already be leveraging social media to raise awareness and drive engagement.

However, are you making the most of social commerce?

You really ought to be, as this social media trend is bound to help drive more sales for ecommerce stores that maximise its potential.

Growth opportunities for ecommerce stores

With 2022 set to bring 13.5 million social commerce buyers in the UK, the potential for growing your ecommerce store is huge.

You might be wondering how much social commerce buyers are spending? Well, a study of the “big four” social media platforms found that Instagram generated the highest average order value of $65 (around £50).

But when it comes to maximising reach and becoming  viral, nothing really beats TikTok. The popular hashtag  #TikTokmademebuyit has over 8 billion views (at the time of writing) with users recommending their favourite products.

The success of the TikTok hashtag is helped by the concept of social proof – the reassurance from online users of a product’s authenticity, quality and effectiveness.

Social proof is a social media tactic you can leverage as an ecommerce store to help drive sales.

How to capitalise on the trend

There’s ample opportunity for ecommerce stores to use social media to attract customers at each stage of the customer journey and grow their brand. Next up, we’ll take a look at just how to leverage this social media trend for your ecommerce store.

Discovery stage

For shoppers to discover your ecommerce store on social media, it’s probably a good idea to set up your profile if you haven’t already. Having a presence on popular social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook and Instagram is a must for ecommerce stores in 2022.

A study found that online was the most common way for UK consumers to purchase products for categories like Media & Entertainment, Apparel & Accessories and Household Staples.

So if your ecommerce store serves any of those categories, there’s likely already demand in social commerce for you to tap in to.

One thing to bear in mind, though, is to be strategic about the products you upload to your ecommerce social media store. Focus more on your best-selling, low-priced products as these shoppers rarely use social media to make expensive purchases.

An element of social media design is required to customise your social media storefront to stand out in users’ feed.

Evaluation stage

The evaluation stage traditionally occurs in-store where shoppers will research and evaluate products. They might do this by asking staff questions, giving them access to immediate support. Or, by comparing products based on factors like look, feel and price.

So, how do you replicate (and improve) the in-store shopping experience on social media?

Your social feed and ability to respond quickly becomes part of the shopper’s evaluation stage. It can make or break their decision to go ahead so it’s crucial you get it right.

Not only that, what is another significant barrier for shoppers when it comes to online shopping versus in-store? It’s the fear of whether the item they order online is going to look the same as the photos depict.

Remove this concern by using high quality 360-degree images and videos of your products in action. The benefit of social media as a shopping platform is you have that element of social proofing to tap into – this helps reassure shoppers.

Go one step further and utilise livestream shopping – a similar concept to TV shopping just on social media. This social media trend is gaining popularity all over the world as viewers tune in as a form of ‘try before you buy’. Facebook and TikTok in particular have been promoting livestream shopping events.

Purchase stage

So, your shoppers have made it through the discovery and evaluation stages and they’re just clicks away from making the purchase.

Get your shoppers over the finish line by removing pain points and offering one-click or direct purchasing options on your social media pages.

Final thoughts

As  this social media trend continues to gain popularity, customers’ expectations will shift. They will expect a seamless and easy shopping experience on social media from all their favourite brands.

If your ecommerces store can’t offer that, they will simply shop elsewhere.

That’s why it’s important to stay in the loop of social media trends that affect ecommerce stores, like social commerce. This is one boat you don’t want to miss.