I’ll be the first to admit it; I’ve been trained to wait for a deal and stay at home when necessary. Who doesn’t? As a society, we’ve also been trained to hurry up and wait for nothing; with all that extra waiting, what’s a consumer to do?
Now, we’ve been trained to shop while we hurry up and wait.
Everyone has access to a smart-phone, tablet or a device that grants you access to the fast-paced world of social media and before our eyes, e-commerce and social media are becoming one (Alexa, play “2 become 1” by Spice Girls).
With social media platforms like Instagram now becoming shoppable, the average person spends approximately an hour and 40 minutes scrolling endlessly through a given platform.
User-generated content is the main link of e-commerce and social media. User-generated content, or UGC, is a visual representation of a person’s devotion to a brand or product.
You know the new phone you just bought? That’s the new wave of retail.
Every time a photo is uploaded to Instagram that was taken using the latest iPhone with a relating hashtag, that’s user-generated content. It’s this self-inflicted tactic that e-commerce brands look for; user-generated content are 5 times more likely to generate new customers.
This adds a personal flair to monetizing social media; it’s the latest form of word-of-mouth and people are more likely to trust the opinion of a person over a brand, because the person isn’t being paid to promote something.
a million followers, curating collections with Nordstrom.
This is where the line between e-commerce and social media is completely blurred; user-generated content has lead to the Instagram influencer. Their impact on e-commerce has led to the creation of product lines that reaches out to audiences through the tools provided on Instagram, and ultimately decides what they should create next.
I love this next wave of retail, I think it’s creative, but I’m curious- why would you purchase something from Instagram?
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