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Social commerce solution

Social commerce is an estimated $1 trillion opportunity. Discover how to empower creators to unlock tremendous value.

Building a more human marketplace

A great shift is taking place, from platform powerhouses to people-powered social commerce. Capitalizing on this shift to social commerce first requires platforms to create human-centric ecosystems that empower people – as buyers, creators, sellers or brands to discover, research, buy and sell the things they love and need. It also requires a deep understanding of every kind of user to create true value for consumers and businesses alike.

Social media is made up of millions of macro and micro communities catering to the likes, dislikes, dreams, and ambitions of every person on the planet. To deliver on the promise of social shopping, platforms and brands must come together to match interactive social experiences with flawless commerce basics.

Accenture is delivering on the promise of technology and human ingenuity to help our clients build a more human marketplace that creates value for businesses, consumers, creators, and curators.

What is social commerce?

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The social commerce revolution

Social commerce is creating new opportunities and challenges for brands, retailers and platform companies. Explore our essay series, based on our proprietary research, that takes a deep dive into this shopping revolution.

Software and Platforms

Take SMB growth to new heights

Understand what the $1.2 trillion social commerce opportunity means for SMBs.
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Software and Platforms

Unlocking the potential of the creator economy

Social commerce allows anyone to be a creator, presenting an extraordinary growth opportunity for platforms.
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Software and Platforms

Brand strategies for a social commerce world

Social commerce offers brands myriad growth opportunities. It also presents them with complex choices. The key challenge? Knowing where to play.
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Software and Platforms

What matters in the social commerce experience

Social commerce is on track to become a $1tn market. How should platforms and brands come together to play, compete and win in the new market?
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Software and Platforms

Why shopping is set for a social revolution

Learn more about how social commerce provides brands, retailers and platform businesses with a $1.2 trillion wave of opportunity.
Are you social commerce ready?

The next $1 trillion opportunity is up for grabs

Advance your social commerce opportunity

Platforms must consider the impact of community, brands and influencers, and designing a simple, fun way to shop that makes consumers feel safe and respected, always.

Acquisition, onboarding & engagement

We help platforms to identify and acquire merchants, brands, and creators that enable effortless onboarding and deliver strong engagement.

Commerce features & user journey

We help platforms to build products and features that enhance product discovery and improve user and merchant experience.

Fulfilment & support

We help platforms build a trusted platform, establish fulfillment capabilities and scale customer and merchant support.

Continuing the social commerce conversation

See our Accenture leaders discuss our Social Commerce solution in the marketplace.

Built for Change: The future of shopping is social

Hear Accenture, Obsess and Snapchat discuss how brands and retailers can succeed as more shoppers expect community and connection during transactions. Listen now.

Tomorrow, Today: The social shopping revolution

What's driving the surge of social commerce in China? How can UK businesses and consumers meet the East? Our experts are leading the UK conversation. Watch now.

The Information: Creators & the Metaverse

Watch as Accenture, Roblox and the BEN group discuss how businesses that serve creators can establish footholds in the metaverse. Watch now.

CES: When social meets commerce

Leaders of top CPGs and Social Platforms discuss the global emergence of Social Commerce and the ways it has redefined buying and selling. Watch now.

The Information: Fueling the creator middle class

Hear Accenture, Pinterest and The Unconventional Southern Belle (Creator) discuss how platforms are helping creators scale their business. Watch now.

Our leaders

Robin Murdoch

Managing Director – Corporate Strategy, Global
LinkedIn

Oliver Wright

Senior Managing Director – Consumer Goods & Services, Global Lead
LinkedIn

Kevin Collins

Managing Director – Software & Platforms, Innovation & Offerings, Global
LinkedIn

Laura McCracken

Managing Director – eCommerce & Payments, Global
LinkedIn

Related capabilities

Grow digital commerce

CPGs as digital businesses can seize the opportunity to grow digital commerce.

Digital commerce services and solutions

Accenture helps brands develop digital commerce strategies with a transformation system that balances complexity & simplicity to maximize growth.

Grow SMB services

Discover how Grow SMB is enabling success. Because when SMB customers and partners prosper, we all do.

Frequently asked questions

Social commerce is when a person’s entire shopping experience—from product discovery to the check-out process—takes place on a social media platform. 

While the opportunity is significant for large businesses, individuals and smaller brands also stand to benefit. More than half (59%) of social buyers surveyed said they are more likely to support small and medium-sized businesses through social commerce than when shopping through e-commerce websites. 63% said they are more likely to buy from the same seller again, showing the benefits of social commerce in building loyalty and driving repeat purchases.

With the average user now spending 2.5 hours a day on social media, social platforms are rapidly becoming the gateway to the internet for many people: for communication, news, entertainment, etc. Now they’re starting to become a destination for commerce as well. What makes it unique to other forms of digital commerce is the social connections that underpin the experience, whether it be an influencer or brand you follow, or a recommendation from a friend or family member. The authenticity and, therefore, trust that these relationships embody create a different type of influence, engagement, and ultimately, a different type of experience that’s in increasingly high demand from today’s shoppers. 

Social Commerce growth is predicted to be driven primarily by Gen Z and Millennial social media users, accounting for 62% of global social commerce spend by 2025. However, all age groups are using social commerce.

The best Social Commerce strategies are those that are led by consumer-first thinking. By identifying the platforms on which your consumers are engaging, you have identified your Social Commerce platform(s) to consider.

China is a mobile-first society, where many individuals went straight to mobile without ever purchasing computers, which means a greater number of older Asian users are present on social media platforms than in the West.

In addition, Asia is home to what could be described as "super apps" — major platforms that serve as one-stop hubs for various needs ranging from social media and messaging to payments, shopping, and travel. This makes it much easier for Asian users to adopt social commerce.

This isn’t the case in the West, where users rely on multiple individual apps and integration features for their various needs, which means adoption of social commerce hasn’t been as fast.