Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready By Moritz Hagenmüller, Daniel Smythe and Mirca Behling

The Internet is abuzz with pundits hailing the end of social media as a sales channel. In reality, most companies have barely tapped into an omni-channel model that incorporates social. The impetus for this hailstorm of commentary was a recent report claiming Twitter had disbanded its Buy-button related team.

Not so fast, pundits. Social media is here to stay as a sales channel. We do not see Twitter’s foray spelling the doom of all social selling. We see it simply as a failed experiment. Moving beyond “like” to “buy” is no small task. Successful companies need to recognize the importance of social buying and create an integrated omni-channel approach in order to fully leverage this channel. But it’s not about offering customers the same buying experience they receive through traditional e-commerce. It’s about redefining it for a new medium, clearly owning the customer experience, and managing social as one would any potentially profitable sales channel rather than as an add-on.

2 | Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready

The social buying advantage? Effortless and laser focused Buying, with today’s arsenal of digital technology, should be effortless. Entering credit card numbers and delivery addresses more than once will soon be a relic of the past. Smartphones and tablets account for only 15 percent of e-commerce spending, despite 59 percent of digital shopping time occurring on mobile devices3. However, Accenture research shows that 40 percent of consumers increased their shopping via mobile phones and 30 percent via tablets in the past 12 months3. Social buying can eliminate much of the hassle consumers perceive, with smart “buy” buttons. But, simply creating a channel that eases the buying process will not bring the business growth retailers desire. That growth requires a rethinking of online sales, an approach tailored for the social shopper. Designed correctly, social media as a sales channel takes retail one step closer to seamless. Buying will become a less intentional act and more like a link in an experience chain. Visual commerce platform Curalate’s Fanreel helps companies leverage social media images posted by users that include their products in real-life settings, connecting the company with an approved image so buying links can be embedded. Its buy button solution is called Like2Buy and can be used in combination with Fanreel. 3 | Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready

A consumer’s path to purchase is currently less deliberate on social media. He or she has not launched Facebook or Pinterest to buy anything, but rather to connect with others, or find information, inspiration and new ideas. With 72 percent of Millennials and 51 percent of GenXers following fashion bloggers4, a “buy” button allows them to act immediately on a trusted advisor’s find. And the numbers show they will—social media increased its share of e-commerce referrals nearly 200 percent between the first quarters of 2014 and 20155. The savvy social seller is a master of digital analytics, pushing just the right product or service at just the right time based on data gleaned from social engineering, recent purchases, stated preferences, affiliations and the like. Honing in on customer preferences with precision and accuracy requires analytics so targeted that your favorite online retailer knows you like the yellow sweater better than the red one because of your buying history, and because your Facebook BFF just bought the red one so you will want to differentiate. The retailer will also know that this sweater design runs small, so you should be told that and offered a size up. And that free, express delivery will delight you because it means your new sweater will arrive before the upcoming vacation you are taking (if your recent spike in resort-wear purchases is any indication).

4 | Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready

PERCENTAGE FOLLOWING FASHION BLOGGERS:

72 % Millennials

51% GenXers

Our vision for successful social buying means consumers no longer have to search for products they need online. Rather, products are pushed to them through social media at the right moment—the moment of inspiration, where an impulse for sprucing up the dining room décor becomes a purchase to help make that impulse a reality. Companies like Pixlee, Curulate and Tote–which was recently acquired by Pinterest–are already moving in this direction. Pinterest appears to be taking the lead. With their powerful and recently up-scaled Buyable Pins offering, they are already moving from Pin to Buy. Users can now purchase select items directly through Pinterest and access shopping carts seamlessly across channels, just as they can with leading e-commerce players.

Treat social selling as an add-on and you will fail Social as a sales channel is not an add-on in successful organizations. Unfortunately, many businesses still treat it as such. In 2015, mobile shopping cart abandonment reached 97 percent6, not surprising given that only 48 percent of shoppers described the act of completing a purchase on mobile devices and tablets as easy7. Conversion rates are begging for a savior, a role social could fill if treated as a viable channel, replete with a tailored strategy for the medium. The top 50 retailers earned $1.8 billion from social shopping in 20158, a sign that social—handled deliberately—can drive significant growth. 5 | Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready

Astute management teams recognize that social can disrupt the path to purchase, putting brands in close touch with their loyal followers. Managing this channel appropriately means more than just utilizing social ambassadors and multipliers. It means weaving these tools in with rich content relevant to targeted buyers, allowing them to be part of the conversation. Whether it’s Nike fostering conversations amongst its triathlete customers about the latest training techniques from a top coach, or Brookstone creating a forum for men on their most desired holiday gifts—opportunities for targeted “buy” buttons abound. More than half of purchasers rely on other people’s experiences or reviews to inform buying decisions9, so forward-thinking retailers capitalize on social media to bring like-minded buyers together online—turning a potential sale into likely multiple potential sales.

It seems to be working, as $30 billion of global e-commerce sales were generated from social networks in 2015 10. Yet, only 22 percent of retailers implemented “buy” buttons in 2015; this number is expected to grow to 60 percent in 2016 11.

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PERCENTAGE OF RETAILERS IMPLEMENTING “BUY” BUTTONS:

22%

2015

60 % 2016

Owning the customer journey is key to a win There are no clear lines of ownership across the customer journey, as evidenced by 2015’s abandoned shopping cart value. Estimates vary, but generally clock in between $3 and $4 trillion 12, an amount more than two times greater than the total revenue generated by e-commerce platforms. Meaning, on average, an online store generates revenue of only 30 percent of its true potential. These numbers illustrate that clearly no one is stepping up to own the customer journey end-to-end. As “buy” buttons create a new sales channel, they are also blurring the lines of consumer ownership within the traditionally Marketing-owned social media platforms.

Tencent’s WeChat is a Chinese service portal that can be considered the Swiss army knife of the digital world. With 762 million users, the app is a social network that at the same time acts as a sophisticated payment platform with more functionalities than most online banks. From ordering taxis and booking flights, paying utilities or transferring money to enabling friends to split the restaurant bills or shopping through the online retailer JD.com, WeChat has managed to enable it all through one overarching app. It has internalized the idea of keeping the consumer on one platform – an idea that lies at the core of social shopping and one that has allowed Tencent to be placed amongst the top 25 most valuable companies in the world.13

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To enable a seamless consumer experience in terms of published content and purchasing process, social media must be co-owned and managed by sales and marketing in close collaboration with other functions. Marketing traditionally sees itself as handling communication with the customer—not sales. And yet, to manage social as a sales channel correctly, Marketing and Sales functions will have to work together. The goal is a seamless blend of communications and conversations that convert into sales. This seamless attribute will only result from the right concoction of brand image, tailored content, customer analytics and sales techniques developed for social to make a sale feel like anything but a purchase. Instead, it should feel like part of the experience the brand offers.

8 | Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready

From “like” to “buy” Retailers need to make critical investments in their social media strategy now to ensure it is not just a byline activity, but a real source of topline growth opportunity. Immediacy is the competitive advantage right now, but will not remain so, since discerning first movers make significant inroads. • Social media presence must be understood as a new digital storefront and supported by interlinked areas of the organization, from marketing and sales to finance. • Every brand is a publisher and should leverage bloggers and influencers to provide engaging content that is not only relevant and shareable, but also actionable as a path to purchase. • Manage social media as a dedicated, integrated channel. Use social buying to streamline the online shopping process and shorten the sales funnel, decreasing lost sales due to cart abandonment rates. The days of measuring social success in terms of “likes” has come to an end. Retailers may be temporarily stalled on significant socially-fueled revenue growth, but we see this coming to a quick end as forerunners give social media the attention it deserves. In time, this trend may very well completely redefine e-commerce market share.

The bottom line—this revenue opportunity can’t be missed, and social media giants as well as brands and retailers have much to gain. 9 | Moving beyond “like”: Why social media is revenue ready

Join the conversation @AccentureStrat Follow us on LinkedIn

Contact the Authors Moritz Hagenmüller [email protected] Daniel Smythe [email protected] Mirca Behling [email protected]

Other Contributors Marilena Schachler [email protected]

Notes 1

Forbes, 2016: Small Business Tech this week: Twitter abandons the “Buy Button” and now you can eat your six-pack, by Gene Marks

2

comScore, 2015: How the “Buy Button” can help fill the M-Commerce gap, by Andrew Lipsman

3

Accenture’s Global Seamless Consumer Retail Survey, 2015

4

Luxury Institute, 2015: Luxury Institute Survey shows big divide between Boomers and Millennials in embrace of new technology and relationships with luxury brands, by Luxury Institute Business Insider, June 2015: It’s time for retailers to start paying close attention to social media, by Cooper Smith, BI Intelligence

5

6

Ventureburn, 2016: 7 reasons why customers are abandoning your mobile shopping cart, by Manish Bhalla

7

Accenture’s Global Seamless Consumer Retail Survey, 2015

8

Internet retailer, 2016: Best Social Media Marketers in E-Commerce report

9

Accenture’s Global Consumer Pulse Research, 2014

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About Accenture Strategy Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of business and technology. We bring together our capabilities in business, technology, operations and function strategy to help our clients envision and execute industry-specific strategies that support enterprise wide transformation. Our focus on issues related to digital disruption, competitiveness, global operating models, talent and leadership help drive both efficiencies and growth. For more information, follow @AccentureStrat or visit www.accenture.com/strategy.

Social Media Explorer, January 2016: 5 Tips for taking advantage of the 2016 Social Commerce Boom, by Jawad Khan

10

11

PowerRetail, 2016: Do “Buy Buttons” have a future?, by Julian Thumm

12

Business Insider, 2015: Shopping cart abandonment: online retailers’ biggest headache is actually a huge opportunity, by Cooper Smith

13

Manager Magazine, July 2016

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