OPINION | Social weds e-tail, should e-malls be worried?

I read the news of Twitter planning to come up with ‘buy’ button with considerable interest. To begin with in the US, in collaboration with Shopify. About 100,000 merchants, who use Shopify platform, would thus be able to sell their products on Twitter. So CTA on a Twitter ad or brand page would not lead to the advertisers’ website, but would allow the users to buy right there. Users would be able to see products displayed not only by brands and sellers, but also by influencers.

Twitter, it seems has been testing waters for quite some time together with Shopify. It has also created features like brand/product pages which have information about the products, images, videos, option to share and lot more. Of course, all this along with regular Twitter features.

Twitter is not the only Social Media site that is looking at ecommerce with a keen eye. Facebook too is experimenting with ‘shops’, apparently again powered by Shopify e-commerce platform. The ‘buy’ button would allow users to buy directly from Facebook. Google, too, is said to be experimenting with ‘buy’ button on its mobile platform.

As an aside, Shopify, in its Q2, 2015 results declared in July 2015, registered a revenue increase of 90% year on year. It has more than 1,75,000 merchants across the countries and its gross merchandise volume has grown 100% YoY.  Shopify has a presence in India too.

As normally is the case with digital media – features would be available in India as well, perhaps as soon as they are launched. E-tail is perhaps the only other category growing at a fast pace, after Social Media and video (if you want to consider it a part of Social Media). A marriage of the two would open newer and much bigger vistas.
The thought, of course, causes some worries too. Do you remember how web was before the advent of social media? The sites we visited? Do you still visit those sites? With the same frequency? Well, what then would happen to so many e-malls that are mushrooming?

It is often stated that people trust what their friends on social media and quite a few products are bought because ‘friends’ recommended them! If brands are able to sell their wares in this environment, would they not lap up the opportunity? If I figure out that four of my friends have bought Sony Xperia Z3 plus and are happy about it, it just might become my preferred choice too. And in that environment if the brand CTA is ‘buy now’, chances of me buying it are far higher.

Do the large e-commerce platforms like Ebay and Amazon then have a reason to worry? While it is not difficult for social media sites to sell, for e-commerce sites it would be nearly impossible to morph into social websites. It might not be much cause of concern for single brand online stores though, as it would just be another place to peddle their products. Shoppers’ Stop tie-up with Snapdeal, and Hemleys launch of a store on Amazon is an indication of times to come. And it is hard to believe that they would not use the e-tail opportunity being introduced by Social Media in a big way.

By the way, Myntra, as the reports said last week, is making an attempt to be the ‘facebook’ of fashion e-tailing. It, perhaps, would be eagerly watched by other ‘online malls’ in India and also the market observers. | By Ritu Midha