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January 27, 2025

How to Start and Optimize Your Social Commerce Strategy in 2025

 

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Social commerce is rapidly evolving in 2025, reshaping how businesses sell online by seamlessly integrating e-commerce with social interactions. Platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube have transformed into powerful shopping hubs. 

 

If you are looking to launch or refine your social commerce strategy, online surveys provide essential data-driven insights—including consumer trust, shopping behavior, and platform preferences. This article explores the latest key trends in social commerce and how online surveys can guide social commerce entry and optimization, helping businesses align with consumer expectations to boost engagement and sales.

 

 

What is Social Commerce and Essential Updates for 2025

 

Social commerce blends e-commerce with social media, allowing users to discover, engage with, and purchase products directly on platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Social interactions—such as influencer recommendations, live shopping, and user-generated reviews—are integrated into the buying journey, purchasing becomes a more engaging activity. These platforms are evolving continuously into powerful sales channels—here are the key trends to watch in 2025:

 

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1. TikTok

 

2. Facebook

 

  • Live Shopping: The latest live shopping tool updated in 2024 allows sellers to tag products featured during livestreams, providing detailed product information and a seamless shopping experience.
  • Messenger Shopping: New shopping features for Messenger are launched in 2024, allowing businesses to showcase their products on Messenger. Shoppers can also browse and order products seamlessly in a few taps.

 

3. Instagram

 

  • Product Tags: Up to 5 items are allowed to be tagged in Feed, Stories, Reels and Live. These tags could also be set up in ads.
  • Shop Tab: Shoppers could access Instagram Shopping conveniently from the App’s homescreen, which provides personalized recommendations for brands and products.

 

4. Youtube

 

  • Product Tagging: From 2024, all shopping creators are able to tag products in videos, enabling instant access to product details and seamless purchasing. 
  • Shopping Collections: Creators can curate products from favorite brands or their own line, displayed in the product list, Store tab, and video descriptions.

 

 

What to do BEFORE STARTING Social Commerce

Thinking about leveraging the rise of social commerce? The following are 3 examples of crucial actions before launching social commerce, and online surveys could bring insights for these objectives.

 

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1. Understanding Consumer’s Trust Concerns

If you want to evaluate consumers’ confidence in social commerce platforms and identify concerns related to data security, payment safety, product authenticity, and fraud risk, consider a Consumer Trust Survey.

Consumer Trust Survey

  • Purpose: Understand and address trust barriers that may prevent consumers from making purchases on social commerce platforms.
  • Target Audience: Consumers who are aware of social commerce but have concerns or hesitations about making purchases through social media.
  • Example Questions:
    • “What concerns do you have about purchasing on social media?”
    • “Which factors (e.g., secure payment methods, verified sellers, customer reviews) would increase your trust in social commerce?”

 

2. Exploring Consumers’ Preferences on Platforms and Contents

It is also important to figure out how consumers discover, interact with, and purchase products on social media platforms. A Customer Behavior Survey would be useful for this purpose.

 

Customer Behavior Survey

  • Purpose: Identifies which platforms and content formats (e.g., influencer recommendations, live shopping) influence purchase decisions.
  • Target Audience: Consumers who actively engage with social media content and have shown interest in online shopping, regardless of past purchase behavior.
  • Example Questions:
    • “Which social media platforms do you use for product discovery?”
    • “How often do you purchase products directly through social media?”

 

3. Analyzing Consumers’ Usage for a Relevant Strategy

In order to align with consumers’ needs, examining how frequently consumers engage with social commerce and their perceptions of its convenience, reliability, and appeal is crucial. A Usage and Attitude Survey would be suitable for this case.

 

Usage and Attitude (U&A) Survey

  • Purpose: Helps businesses tailor their social commerce strategies based on consumer expectations and platform preferences.
  • Target Audience: Both current and potential social commerce shoppers, including those who may have hesitated in the past due to convenience or trust concerns.
  • Example Questions:
    • “How convenient do you find shopping on social media compared to traditional e-commerce websites?”
    • “What improvements or features would make you more likely to shop via social media?” 

 

 

Action Plans

Based on the insights gathered from the survey, businesses may consider to focus on the most trusted platforms, tailor messaging to consumer needs, and test a pilot campaign before a full launch. Using these survey-driven insights ensures businesses to maximize engagement and creates a seamless social commerce experience that aligns with consumer needs.

 

 

Solutions for IMPROVING Social Commerce Strategies

Once a social commerce strategy is launched, continuous evaluation is crucial for optimizing customer experience and increasing conversions. The 3 examples below explain how online surveys provide real consumer insights for businesses to refine their approach effectively.

 

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1. Assessing Consumers’ Reaction

After implementing a social commerce campaign, evaluating the results to identify which elements drive conversions. A Campaign Effectiveness Survey provides the essential data for this analysis.

 

Campaign Effectiveness Survey
  • Purpose: Measure how well a social commerce campaign resonates with consumers, evaluating engagement, message clarity, and purchase influence.
  • Target Audience: Consumers who have interacted with a brand’s campaign, whether through ads, influencer promotions, or live shopping events.
  • Example Questions:
    • “How clear and compelling was the campaign’s message about the product or service?”
    • “What motivated you to explore or purchase a product after seeing this campaign?”

 

2. Accessing the Level of Authenticity

To gauge overall satisfaction among customers who have completed a social commerce transaction, a Customer Satisfaction Survey is the ideal solution.

Customer Satisfaction Survey
  • Purpose: Evaluate the shopping experience, including ease of purchase, platform usability, and product expectations.
  • Target Audience: Customers who have made at least one purchase through social media platforms.
  • Example Questions:
    • “How satisfied were you with the shopping process on this social media platform?”
    • “What improvements would enhance your social commerce shopping experience?”

 

3. Identifying Key Factors Encouraging Repeat Purchases

Loyalty programs, exclusive deals, and seamless reordering all contribute to customer retention. Use a Loyalty Survey to find out the critical factors driving repeat purchases.

Loyalty Survey
  • Purpose: Understand what drives repeat purchases and long-term customer engagement in social commerce.
  • Target Audience: Consumers who have made multiple purchases through social commerce platforms.
  • Example Questions:
    • “What would encourage you to shop again on this social media platform?”
    • “How likely are you to recommend this social commerce shopping experience to others?”

 

Action Plans

After gathering survey data, businesses can refine their social commerce strategy by improving ad content, visuals, and calls-to-action for better engagement. Addressing checkout barriers enhances the buying experience and reduces drop-offs. Insights from customer satisfaction and loyalty surveys help create personalized rewards and offers to boost retention. Leveraging surveys throughout the customer journey ensures a customer-focused and continuously optimized strategy.

 

 

Leverage Online Surveys for Social Commerce Success

All of the survey types mentioned above can be conducted through online surveys, offering valuable guidance for shaping a social commerce strategy at every stage—from launching the first campaign to optimizing long-term customer engagement. Insights from the correct respondents continuously guide businesses to social commerce success.

 

Z.com Engagement Lab is here to help you maximize the impact of your social commerce strategy. Our proprietary consumer network, Asia Cloud Panel, enables connection to over 65 million real consumers across 16 APAC regions. Find your target audience and start using online surveys today to create a smarter, more customer-centric social commerce strategy.

 

 

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Beginner's Guide to Online Survey

If you are new to online surveys, feel free to check our beginner's guide HERE!

 

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