Dive Brief:
- Social media has an outsized impact on customers’ product discovery, a key aspect of the shopping journey, according to a Medallia survey of 2,000 consumers released last month. Social media is one of the top ways consumers found new products, with 15% of shoppers finding their latest purchases through social channels, second only to shopping in-store, with 16% of shoppers.
- Customers are generally happy with shopping via social media. Four in 5 said the buying process was easy, and 2 in 3 were pleased with the personalized advertisements of products.
- More customers, particularly Gen Z, are engaging with customer service via social channels, according to the report. Nearly 2 in 5 customers used social channels to reach customer service.
Dive Insight:
While customers are overwhelmed by the number of targeted messages on social media, they also recognize the value of shopping on social channels, particularly when searching for inspiration.
“Our research shows that there's a lot of importance on [social media] when you think about the earliest stages in particular of the shopper journey, things like identifying a need to begin with and then identifying what products can fulfill that need,” Andrew Custage, head of research insights at Medallia, told CX Dive.
Just over 3 in 5 customers say that social media has too many ads, but another 3 in 5 say they have discovered a new brand via social channels. Additionally, 44% say shopping for products on social media is a good experience.
How often brands should be reaching customers via social media to encourage product discovery while maintaining good CX is a balancing act retailers — as well as social media companies — will have to determine for themselves, Custage said.
“Too many ads can be a negative experience, and many consumers, based on our data, seem burned out by it,” he said.
It’s important for companies to have a pulse on the consumer and how they’re viewing the brand. “Their brand messaging and the control of that message goes outside of their four walls, and it goes beyond just traditional CX management techniques,” he said.
More customers are using social media to buy products as well. With the integrations of Apple Pay and Google’s payment as well as TikTok shop, it’s easier than ever to conduct the entire shopping journey on one channel. Customers are also as satisfied with the products they found via social media as they are with products they found elsewhere.
