Understand Social Commerce: Best Platforms and Trends in 2025

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is a subset of e-commerce that involves using social media platforms to advertise and sell products and services. It integrates the entire shopping experience — from product discovery to purchase and after-sales support — within social media environments. This means users can browse, shop and seek support directly on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and more. 

Social commerce empowers brands and marketers to reach potential customers, cultivate relationships with them and drive them towards conversion via native social features like Instagram’s shoppable posts or Facebook’s Marketplace. 

But, how is social commerce different from social selling? Social selling focuses on long-term relationship-building by engaging customers, answering questions and gently nudging them towards sales. Social commerce is more transactional, enabling the real act of shopping by putting products in front of the audience and then simplifying their shopping experience.  

Take Nike, for example. Nike uses social media for e-commerce, driving both sales and engagement from platforms like Instagram. It leverages influencer marketing to build trust while integrating interactive shopping features like shoppable posts, stories, and live events with quick checkout options.

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How does social commerce work?

Social commerce works by using the power of social media platforms to create a seamless and convenient shopping journey and experience. Here’s what it looks like at every journey stage: 

Discovery: Brands appeal to users through posts, stories and influencer collaborations. It introduces products/services to people they may not have specifically searched for but lies in their interest. Let’s illustrate this through a Sephora campaign.  

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Engagement: Interested users are encouraged to engage with posts, share them forward, and follow your brand, which helps deepen the relationship and grow organically on social media. Collaborating with preferred influencers, hosting live events, social media contests, or Ask Me Anything sessions also eventually reduces purchase hesitation. Take a cue from Sephora below. 

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Purchase: To enable one-click shopping, you can leverage easy checkout options offered by social media platforms, such as “Shop Now” banners and shopping links on stories on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.  

Post-purchase: In this stage of social commerce, you may leverage social customer support solutions and engagement tactics like asking customers to share their experiences, post reviews, join loyalty programs or tag you in user-generated content (UGC). Circling back to Sephora, the brand maintains recall and engagement by reposting relevant customer content on its pages and stories:  

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By guiding customers from discovery to post-purchase sharing, social commerce creates a complete journey where every interaction invites users to connect more deeply with a brand.   

Curious to learn more? Check out renowned business strategist and CX expert Jay Baer’s expert take on social commerce strategies below.  

What are the benefits of using social commerce?

Social commerce platforms are always-on accessible shopping destinations for customers but they also benefit brands in many ways.   

• Wider audience reach: 61% of online shoppers in the U.S. admit they’re more likely to check out new brands or products because of a social media suggestion. This presents an enormous opportunity for brands to connect with brand-new audiences that were earlier inaccessible.  

• Increased conversion rates: Social commerce allows instant product discovery, browsing and checkout that make buying easy and seamless. Social media channels also provide a platform for UGC that tends to increase conversion rates by 29%. 

• Better social proof and reviews: Social e-commerce thrives on the power of social proof like customer reviews, comments and UGC. For millennials, UGC is 6.6x more influential than brand-generated or even influencer-generated content because it feels more authentic, as per the article quoted above. 

• Reduced cart abandonment E-commerce companies lose about $18 billion to cart abandonment yearly. Social commerce helps reduce shopping cart abandonment rates by enabling intuitive shopping opportunities, quick payment options, personalized recommendations and instant customer support.  

Top 8 social commerce strategies and tactics to use in 2025

Social media commerce strategies that are data-driven and powered by AI, UGC and interactive elements help create a journey that feels personal, trustworthy and irresistibly shoppable. Here’s a guide to implementing and optimizing social commerce for your brand: 

1. Orchestrate end-to-end purchase journeys 

To encourage shopping on social media, it’s vital to orchestrate end-to-end customer journeys that lead from awareness to purchase to retention naturally and seamlessly. Consider these recommendations at each journey stage: 

• Awareness: Start with driving interest and engagement for your brand. Targeted social media ads, informative content and visually appealing influencer posts can help spread brand awareness on crowded platforms. 

• Consideration: Share product demos, comparison guides, UGC, video tutorials and other branded content to encourage exploration and engagement. 

• Purchase: Moving customers from consideration to purchase is all about winning trust and creating urgency. To do this, share social proof through testimonials and reviews, limited-time deals, shoppable posts, and more. 

• Retention: After shopping, provide social customer service with AI chatbots for quick query resolutions, product care or usage tips, tutorials and FAQs. Additionally, use retargeting ads to win back lost customers. 

Check out: Quick Overview of Facebook Retargeting 

 2. Host interactive shopping events 

Live shopping is today’s version of window shopping but with an interactive element. Hosting live streams on social media where customers can chat, ask questions, and buy in real-time, while brands build urgency and drive more sales than static posts.  

Expert tips:  

• Partner with experts, celebrities or influencers to create hype and credibility. 

• Keep the event interactive and engaging by responding to comments and running quick polls. 

• Include clickable links in the live stream to empower customers to shop without leaving the event.  

Example: Rihanna’s makeup brand Fenty Beauty is a great example — its live events mix product demos with expert advice, creating a hands-on experience that pulls viewers into buying right then and there.  

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3. Lead with data analytics

Customers reveal their buying preferences and habits in social interactions and conversations. Using social media analytics, you can gather all relevant conversations, decipher patterns in them, segment them by audience and then create targeted ads to laser-focus your marketing.  

Pro tip: 

• Use sentiment analysis to track emotion-based purchases and refine not just your ads but also the product positioning and customer engagement tone based on this information. 

Too many social channels to monitor for insights? Let Sprinklr do the heavy lifting for you.

With Sprinklr Insights, you can get a complete, real-time view of: 

•  Consumer behavior 

• Competitor activity  

• Market trends  

By integrating data from 30+ channels, 400K+ media sources, and 1B+ websites. Sprinklr combines specialized and generative AI to identify trends and provide accurate recommendations, achieving over 90% accuracy.   

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You can also monitor brand sentiment, detect threats early and route alerts to the right teams to safeguard brand reputation.   

Sprinklr is trusted by top brands like Honda, Diageo and McDonald’s for its comprehensive, AI-powered consumer intelligence. Grab a demo and watch Sprinklr in action.   

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4. Make shoppable content

Your posts shouldn’t just inspire, they should enable instant action. Create shoppable content that lets users buy from feeds and Stories, without friction. Make it easy for users to tap, shop and get on with their day. Instagram and Pinterest shoppable posts are highly effective, with brands like H&M using it for driving impulse buys. 

Pro tips:  

• Optimize visual elements of your post and tag products accurately for maximum impact.   

• Save stories on Instagram or Facebook as Highlights to allow customers to revisit older posts. 

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5. Bank on UGC, social proofs and reviews

User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful social proof owing to its authenticity and relatability. When potential buyers see other people using and raving about your products, it catalyzes them to take action. They may feel encouraged to check out your page, follow you or save your content, which are all good social signals. 

Pro tip: Learn how to use hashtags effectively and encourage customers and followers to append branded hashtags in relevant posts, which helps expand your reach further. Check how cosmetics brand Glossier aces the hashtag trend.  

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6. Partner with influencers

Did you know that 81% of people make buying decisions based on recommendations from influencers, friends or family? Influencers understand their audience and have a knack for social media storytelling. Forge connections with your audience’s preferred influencers and use their craftsmanship to create FOMO and drive sales. Remember to pick influencers who resonate with your brand values for genuine endorsements.  

Pro tip: Instead of focusing on influencers boasting large audiences, consider micro-influencers who tend to be more engaged with their modest communities. This move can help drive more meaningful conversations and tangible ROI.  

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7. Deploy AI chatbots for 24/7 care

AI chatbots on social media are so much more powerful than you can imagine. Say a shopper is browsing late at night and has questions regarding their buy. AI-powered chatbots can provide instant, tailored support around the clock. These bots can recommend products, pitch deals, answer FAQs and even help close sales within social channels.  

For instance, Facebook’s instant messaging bot, Facebook Messenger, is used by 81% of businesses for conversational commerce, specifically for advertising and customer support. This way, the bot becomes an always-on rep that works round the clock, addressing customer needs and driving sales conversations. Take a look at how this happens below:

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Demo offer: An omnichannel conversational commerce solution  

A conversational commerce solution supports: 

• One-on-one, personalized conversations on social channels 

• Recommend products smartly  

• Analyzes customer buying habits and trends 

• Rescues abandoned shopping carts  

Sprinklr’s AI-driven conversational commerce solution integrates with 30+ digital channels, offering varied tools to drive engagement such as live chat, video chat, conversational AI and social customer service.    

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Best social commerce platforms in 2025

Choosing the right type of social media platform is critical for social commerce success. Where you place your bet requires an understanding of your audience, your business goals and techniques to leverage the unique strengths of each platform. Here’s a comparison of the top three platforms to help:  

Latest social commerce trends

Embracing social commerce is non-negotiable but to level up and build a future-ready strategy, it would be wise to prepare for these upcoming trends. 

Trend 1: Augmented reality shopping

Augmented reality or AR adoption is booming with studies suggesting that nearly 75% of the world and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users.  

What will this immersive shopping experience look like?  

Apart from try-before-you-buy models and personalized recommendations, customers will expect AR to provide virtual visualization, such as dressing rooms for clothes or in-house placement visualization for furniture.  

Retail grocery shopping is likely to get smarter with AR-powered labels for nutritional facts and allergy alerts. Another use case is in-store navigation with AR maps to support a hybrid shopping experience.  

🔎Your takeaway: To leverage AR shopping, start with a pilot and gauge what customers want as early adopters.  

Trend 2: Integration of non-fungible tokens 

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are unique digital assets stored on a blockchain that allow one to own a specific item, often in fashion, art or collectibles. They certify authenticity and transfer accurately.  

Since they went mainstream in 2021, NFTs have been adopted by many fashion and retail brands to offer limited-edition clothing or accessories. For instance, American candy company Laffy Taffy created 120 unique NFTs to let users own their jokes digitally.  

🔎 Your takeaway: As blockchain adoption grows, NFTs can be used creatively to encourage customer engagement.  

Trend 3: Adoption of voice commerce 

Ever walked in on a friend speaking to Siri about their grocery lists or subscriptions? Since smart speakers have become household staples, they’re also becoming trusted shopping companions. By mid 2022, over 27% of U.S. customers went hands-free to make online payments over voice commands. It is also disability friendly.  

🔎 Your takeaway: As a company providing social commerce, consider ways to make this feature more widespread and adoptable by your audience.  

Trend 4: Ethical and sustainable shopping 

A growing number of customers, especially younger generations, are prioritizing sustainability in their buys. With the use of social media for brand awareness, companies that openly speak about their eco-consciousness are gaining more traction. In fact, 67% of customers are more likely to rally behind influencers who advocate for sustainable products and practices. Social commerce makes sustainable shopping easier.   

🔎 Your takeaway: You can provide sustainability certifications for products or detailed information about its environmental impact, providing transparency to help consumers make informed choices. 

Trend 5: Hyper-personalized recommendations  

Customers today want shopping experiences that are uniquely appealing to them. AI in social media can bridge this gap, which is why 75% of marketers plan to use AI to enhance customer experiences on social media.  

Take Heinz's "Draw Ketchup" campaign powered by AI image generator DALL-E 2, for instance. It created Heinz bottles images from prompts that went viral, generating over 850 million impressions and showcasing the brand's iconic presence.   

Your Takeaway: With the advent and integration of generative AI in modern marketing and sales tools, it becomes easier to understand what users want and like, thereby helping you provide personalized recommendations, targeted content and ads. Hyper-personalized content resonates with your audience and garners more engagement than random, generic content.  

Powerful examples of social commerce in action 

When it comes to playing by social commerce trends, the biggies in the market are setting the bar high. If you want a piece of the pie, here are the top three social commerce examples that you can pick up a few tricks from. 

1. Lululemon makes athleisure cool again  

If you want inspiration to make healthy living look fashionable, look no further than Lululemon. The premium Canadian athleisure brand has 5 million loyal followers on Instagram that it actively engages with standout campaigns, UGC and innovative product launches. For instance, its #TheSweatLife campaign has over 1.5 million followers passionate about healthy living.

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Lululemon’s creative social media strategy is crafted around real-life storytelling that strikes a chord with health-conscious users. It also leverages carousel ads and shoppable posts on Instagram to curate fit check looks featuring models during different activities like running, yoga or weightlifting, emphasizing the performance and versatility of its apparel.  

2. Slack shatters social commerce myths for B2B companies

Slack’s approach to social commerce hinges on its tailored content across platforms and consistent brand voice. Slack highlights product features, user stories and educational content with interactive and relevant strategies across social platforms.  

 For instance, Slack offers limited-time offers through Instagram posts for immediate engagement from users. Many B2B companies don’t think of Instagram as a viable social commerce platform but with its large user base, it is worth cashing into. Meanwhile, on X (formerly Twitter), Slack uses polls for engagement, includes website links and blog posts to increase referral traffic.

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3. boAt turns chatter into conversions 

Indian audio equipment maker boAt turned to the social media platform WhatsApp as a high-impact sales channel using tailored, in-the-moment interactions when email and SMS efforts didn’t work as expected.  

Using Sprinklr’s Conversational Commerce on WhatsApp Business with a native integration helped it proactively engage with and assist customers at critical moments, from sending order updates to re-engaging those who abandoned their carts. This strategy helped boAt recover over 185,000 abandoned carts, generating more than $18,000 in additional revenue.  

By meeting customers at a point that was easy for them, boAt strengthened its direct-to-consumer approach, building brand loyalty and increasing revenue with personalized conversations. boAt also improved its integrations across platforms like Shopify, Nectar and CleverTap to boost personalized outreach and targeted re-engagements that spoke directly to customer needs. You can read the full story here.  

Future of social media commerce  

The next phase of social commerce will likely blend hyper-personalization with decentralized, creator-led shopping experiences. As the metaverse comes close to fruition, a socialverse that brings together social media, the metaverse and extended reality (XR) experiences is likely to emerge. If you want to stay ahead of the game, you should explore integrating Web3 tools, conversational AI software and immersive 3D experiences to improve your business reach.  

3 ways to improve social commerce using Sprinklr

The digital era can feel disconnected for some customers. How do you restore that intimacy and make every customer feel special? AI tools can give you insightful information to have personalized conversations with customers. With Sprinklr’s Conversational Commerce solution, you can: 

1. Recommend products using meaningful customer insights

Sprinklr has a unified platform that consolidates digital interactions across 30+ messaging and social channels into a single interface. With Sprinklr AI, you can gauge intent from customer messages, direct customers to virtual agents to take the shopping experience forward with personalized product recommendations from pre-built catalogs or route conversations to an AI sales chat.    

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2. Lead customers along their shopping journey 

Use Sprinklr AI to streamline customer shopping journeys by offering personalized product comparisons, guiding them to customer reviews and providing instant responses from virtual agents. You can also nudge customers forward in their journey by helping them book appointments with sales representatives, set up video chats and timely reminders, offer special discounts and answer FAQs. Sprinklr also supports integrations like CRM, inventory management system, order management system and more to help sales reps provide better assistance to customers. 

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3. Provide purchase and payment support to reduce cart abandonment 

Sprinklr’s AI-powered platform makes cart management and payments simple by allowing shoppers to add items to their cart directly from the social platform. This helps them make purchases without switching channels, thereby reducing purchase friction. You can also empower your sales reps to leverage AI to create personalized shopping carts and share links with customers.  

With Sprinklr’s AI, you can reduce cart abandonment through automated reminders, targeted offers, and real-time assistance, guiding shoppers through the final stages of their purchase, driving more intuitive and faster checkouts. 

Sprinklr users have witnessed: 

• 24% improved conversion rates by 24% 

• 22% sales growth 

• $7.3 million worth of abandoned carts rescued 

Do you want these results too? Check out our digital selling solution and discuss your specific business needs with our expert today!  

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