So far our 2017 customer experience predictions have spanned from fast-fashion robots to pyramid schemes. Today we are stepping into saturated territory to predict that 2017 will finally be the year when social commerce gets its wings. We know what you are thinking: that is so 2015. Perhaps. But hear us out.
Editorial Ecommerce Crossovers: Buzzfeed Will Crack the Code of Social Commerce
Over the past several years, we have watched ecommerce brands turn increasingly to content marketing to build brand awareness and connect with more customers, many investing in their own editorial staff. Already, this trend is beginning to flip.
In 2017, expect to see media companies become ecommerce retailers, and start doing for products what they do for content—make them go viral. As media companies apply what they know about spreading content to selling products, we expect that 2017 will finally be the year when social commerce takes off.
Buzzfeed, the reigning sovereign of social sharing, is already on the precipice, having opened an ecommerce store this summer and in October acquiring ecommerce startup Scroll, whose CEO is now leading the BuzzFeed Product Lab, which is currently experimenting with an ecommerce formula. Buzzed plans to reveal its commerce initiative sometime next year.
Watch Buzzfeed closely over the next 12 months. If they can apply their knack for social sharing to commerce, they may forever change the way people buy products, and just like they set the gold standard for viral content creation, they may do the same for products. If you think it’s a long shot, remember what the naysayers said about their foray into video production in 2012. Their videos now average more than 3 billions views per month.
