Pandemic Gives Momentum to Social Commerce Platforms

As the number of visitors to shopping centers and retail stores declines, business people have to rack their brains to stay afloat or be slowly eroded. Presence of concept social commerce which unites social and commercial activities in recent years is considered an effective innovation, especially in the midst of a pandemic that is engulfing various parts of the world.

Based on a report made by Econsultancy with Magento and Hootsuite in October 2019 entitled "The State of Social Commerce in Southeast Asia", the industry social commerce is projected to grow significantly. With more than 350 million internet users in Southeast Asia and 90% of the people connected to the internet using smartphone, the opportunity to transact is very large.

In Indonesia itself, there are already several services that direct their business to the concept social commerce, just say it Woobiz, TapTalk.io, and new services Stories.

Take advantage of the momentum

The Covid-19 pandemic, which currently limits the space for movement and activities in public places, has also pushed people's habits in shopping to shift. Although the trend of online shopping has been rampant since internet access has become easier, this pandemic has increasingly pushed the trend of online consumption that has been going on for the last few years.

Woobiz Co-Founder Putri Noor Shaqina admitted that since the pandemic there had been a significant impact on business growth. "We have seen an average increase in partner transactions of more than 30% every month since the pandemic," he said.

According to the Comscore report titled "COVID-19 and its impact on Digital Media Consumption in Indonesia", several interesting facts were put forward regarding public consumption of digital media during the pandemic.

WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram top the rankings mobile app the most frequently used. Restrictions on direct social interaction encourage the enthusiasm of industry players to be able to earn income without having to step out of the house. This can not be separated from the features on social media such as "Instagram Story" which also helps sellers in marketing.

As one of the services that offers technology solutions in message management for SMEs, TapTalk.io, through its representatives said, "This momentum has triggered the acceleration of technological transformation for six years, therefore industry players must be able to take advantage of this to prepare online presence for its business to make it easier for customers to reach."

Complete each other

Undeniably, the concept social commerce closely related to the realm of e-commerce. Still in the Econsultancy report, by 2025, the e-commerce market is projected to exceed $100 billion per year. This also boosts popularity social commerce.

Co-Founder Storie Rizky Kaljubi said, "Currently e-commerce and digital transactions are increasingly familiar. Social media penetration is also increasing in various business lines. More and more industry players want to have income from digital and more brands are switching from traditional to traditional. soft selling."

Comscore data shows a significant increase in the industry E-commerce country during the pandemic.

About the industry competition map social commerce and e-commerce, TapTalk.io commented, "In our opinion, social commerce does not compete directly with the sector E-commerce, but can go hand in hand and complement each other. It is also because of the role social commerce needed to revive human touch in digital buying and selling transactions."

Challenges ahead

Despite the abundance of data showing a positive trend, the industry social commerce not merely immune to challenge. As a relatively new industry in Indonesia, there is still a need for equitable education, both to the business and consumer side. One of the solutions that Woobiz offers is Wooniversity, a commitment to make a real impact through direct training and education media.

Putri added, "Many reseller who are still not comfortable ordering their selling products through online platforms and many are interested but cannot sell [..] We want to educate our partners as well as train them to be able to sell in order to increase their economic capacity."

TapTalk.io has a view of its own. According to them, there are still many businesses that categorize channels social commerce this as third-level channel or additional channels for their business development.

"But we look to the future, channel This social network will become one of the main needs for businesses to be able to reach customers, not only for sales purposes, but also support aftersales better and more integrated service for customers," said a TapTalk.io spokesperson.