Latest / Social Media Marketing with Fexingo: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Platform Strategy / Why Brands Are Using Social Commerce Shops
Transcript
- Lucas: So you've been scrolling Instagram, you see a hoodie you like, you tap the photo, and instead of getting sent to some clunky mobile site where you have to re-enter your credit card — you just buy it right there in the app. Two taps, done. That's social commerce shops, and it's quietly becoming one of the biggest shifts in how brands sell online. Luna: And it's not just Instagram anymore. TikTok Shop is huge now, Pinterest has had buyable pins for a while, and even Snapchat is testing in-app checkout. The platforms really want to keep users inside their walled gardens. Lucas: Exactly. And the data backs up why brands are going along with it. According to a 2025 report from Salesforce, conversion rates on in-platform checkout are roughly 30% higher than when you send a user to an external e-commerce site. That's a massive lift. Luna: Thirty percent — that's hard to ignore. But what's driving that? Is it just the friction reduction, or is there something psychological going on? Lucas: It's both. The friction reduction is obvious — no loading time, no form fills, no password resets. But there's also a trust factor. When you buy inside an app you already use daily, it feels safer than clicking through to some unknown checkout page. Plus, the platforms offer buyer protection policies. Luna: Right, and they also have your payment info saved if you've ever bought digital goods or tipped a creator. So it's almost like a one-click purchase. Lucas: Exactly. And for brands, the big appeal is that the entire funnel happens on one platform. Awareness, consideration, purchase — all inside Instagram or TikTok. That means you can retarget users who browsed but didn't buy, without ever losing them to a third-party cookie gap. Luna: But there's a trade-off, right? You're giving up the direct relationship with the customer. You don't get their email, you don't get their phone number — the platform owns that data. Lucas: That's the tension. You're essentially renting the customer relationship. The platform knows who bought what, but you only get aggregate analytics. So brands have to think hard about whether the higher conversion rate is worth the loss of data ownership. Luna: Let's talk about a concrete example. Gymshark — they were early on this. They integrated Instagram Shops back in 2020, and now I think something like 40% of their social-driven revenue comes from in-app purchases. Lucas: Right, and they've been able to iterate fast because they control the product catalog directly within the platform. They can tag products in posts, in Reels, in Stories — and each tag links to a native product page with reviews, size guides, and UGC galleries. Luna: The UGC component is key. When you see a real person wearing the hoodie in a photo, and then you can tap and buy it without leaving the app, it feels seamless. It's almost like impulse buying, but with social proof baked in. Lucas: And smaller brands can compete too, because you don't need a massive e-commerce backend. You can set up a shop on TikTok or Instagram with just a catalog feed and a payment processor. Some brands are essentially running their entire store inside the social app. Luna: But there are risks. What if the platform changes its algorithm or its commission structure? TikTok Shop charges something like 2% to 5% per transaction, but that could go up. And if you've built your whole business on that platform, you're vulnerable. Lucas: That's why smart brands are using social commerce as a top of funnel and conversion channel, but still maintaining their own DTC site for repeat purchases and data collection. It's a multi-channel approach, not a replacement. Luna: What about Pinterest? They've had buyable pins for years, but I feel like they never really caught on the same way. Lucas: Pinterest's conversion rates are actually pretty good for certain categories — home decor, fashion, DIY — because users come there with intent. They're planning something. But the platform hasn't pushed the buy button as aggressively as Instagram or TikTok. It's more of a discovery tool than a checkout platform. Luna: So if you're a brand deciding where to invest, what's the criteria? Should you start with Instagram Shops, TikTok Shop, or something else? Lucas: It really depends on your audience. If you're targeting Gen Z, TikTok Shop is almost mandatory now. Millennials and older? Instagram Shops. And if you're in a visual, planning-heavy category like home goods, Pinterest is worth testing. The key is to pick one and optimize before expanding. Luna: And then there's the whole live shopping angle. TikTok and Instagram both let you sell during live streams, which adds a whole new layer of urgency and interaction. Lucas: Live shopping is definitely growing, but it's still a small slice of total social commerce. Most purchases are still happening from static posts and product tags. But it's something to watch. Luna: So what's the biggest mistake brands make when they set up a social shop? Lucas: Treating it like a second-class channel. They throw up a few product tags and expect sales. But social commerce needs its own strategy — dedicated content, influencer tagging, shoppable UGC, and a clear call to action. It's not just a link in bio replacement. Luna: Right, and the platforms reward engagement. If your products aren't getting saves and shares, they won't get shown. So you have to think about what makes a product 'shoppable' in the feed. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where creative comes in. A flat product shot won't convert. You need lifestyle imagery, video demos, and customer photos. The best social commerce brands make the product feel like part of a story, not a catalog. Luna: And one thing I've noticed — the brands that do well often use the same creator content for both awareness and conversion. So a creator posts a video wearing the product, and that same video has a tag to buy. It's a natural path. Lucas: That's the holy grail. When the content doesn't feel like an ad, but the purchase is just a tap away. That's where social commerce shines. Luna: And it's interesting because that model also solves the attribution problem. You know exactly which piece of content drove the sale. Lucas: Right — platform-native analytics give you a direct line from post to purchase. That's way more accurate than last-click attribution on a web store. Luna: Let's talk about the future. Do you think social commerce will eventually replace traditional e-commerce for most brands? Lucas: I don't think it'll replace it entirely, but I do think the line will blur. More brands will use platforms as their primary storefront for new customer acquisition, and keep their own site for loyalty and retention. The brands that win will be the ones that manage both channels seamlessly. Luna: And with platforms like TikTok pushing into fulfillment and logistics, they're becoming more like full-service retail partners. Lucas: Yeah, TikTok's been testing its own fulfillment network in some markets. If that scales, it changes the game completely. A brand could manufacture a product, have TikTok handle storage, shipping, and checkout, and never touch a single order themselves. Luna: That's both exciting and a little scary. But for now, most brands are still at the stage where they're just trying to get their first thousand sales through a shop. Lucas: And that's where a focused strategy pays off. Start with one platform, one product line, test the creative, learn the analytics, then scale. Luna: I think that's really sound advice. And on that note — if these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own work or business, that's the whole reason we do this. We deliberately don't run ads on these episodes because we want the content to be purely useful, not interrupted. Lucas: Yeah, and if that independence matters to you, the simplest way to support it is a coffee — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, no perks, just keeping the show ad-free. Luna: Exactly. And speaking of keeping things useful — let's circle back to something we touched on earlier: the role of UGC in product pages. One brand that's doing this really well is the DTC luggage company Away. They've integrated customer photos directly into their Instagram shop, so when you tap a product, you see real travelers using the suitcase, not just studio shots. Lucas: That's a great example. And it works because it reduces the perceived risk. When you see a stranger's photo of a suitcase that's survived a trip, it's more convincing than any brand copy. Social commerce thrives on that kind of authenticity. Luna: So to sum up: social commerce is not just a trend, it's a fundamental shift in how people buy. The platforms have made it easy, the data shows it converts better, and the brands that treat it as a core channel are seeing real results. Lucas: Absolutely. And if you're a marketer or business owner, the time to start testing is now — because the algorithms are still favoring shops that are active and optimized. It's a window that won't stay open forever.