Today, the shopfront is no longer on the high street; it’s wherever consumers scroll, swipe and double-tap. With 5.24 billion social media users worldwide, using an average of seven platforms each month, social commerce - the selling of products and services on social media - is set to drive $1.5 trillion in revenue this year and more than double that by 2029.
However, this scale also drives market fragmentation. Discovering your audience and nurturing them towards the bottom of your funnel is becoming tougher than ever. With ad budgets getting tighter, and ROI pressure on marketers increasing, how can brands achieve measurable success through social commerce today?
Propeller’s latest panel, Social commerce: the next big thing or a passing fad?, explored this challenge via a range of key discussions and insights. Alex Humphries-French, Propeller MADTech Practice Director, chaired the session at the eCommerce Expo/Technology For Marketing show at Excel London. He was joined by:
- Janis Thomas, Managing Director, Look Fabulous Forever
- Helen Cutmore, UK Marketing Director, De'Longhi
- Harriet Dyson, Marketing Controller, Fruit Flavoured Carbonates, Britvic Plc
The strategy gap: why going viral isn’t enough
The session began by debating the big question: if social commerce has so much promise, what’s holding it back?
Janis Thomas argued the problem was strategy: “A lot of brands focus on achieving virality online, but omit a long-term strategy that aligns with long-term business goals.” Helen Cutmore pointed to a lack of audience understanding, while Harriet Dyson emphasised immersion: “social commerce shouldn’t be restricted to brand messaging; marketers must immerse themselves in online culture to create content that educates and entertains.”
While revenue underpins all, social commerce metrics should depend on your business objectives and audience. For many, success will look like a holistic growth in engagement - as Janis said, “By speaking to customers, we discovered that almost all of their journeys began by viewing our YouTube channel. While the platform brings little direct attribution, its value to us is immense.”
Creators, communities and cultural capital
Conversation then turned to the impact of influencers and creators on social commerce.
For Harriet and Britvic, smaller, niche influencers drive FOMO (fear of missing out) and community among Gen Z. Helen agreed that microinfluencers help build authentic engagement among social media’s “coffee community culture” and stressed their power to educate, particularly through video collaborations that remove purchase barriers like “how easy is De’Longhi’s coffee machine to clean?” Janis, however, highlighted that community doesn’t always need external creators; Look Fabulous Forever curates a closed Facebook group where customers can interact with each other, share product suggestions and exchange advice.
As consumers scroll through multiple platforms daily, community is what makes them stop and stay with your brand. Helen said De'Longhi prioritises Instagram users, serving them relevant messages at important life stages. Meanwhile, Harriet and Britvic Plc target Gen Z by creating authentic TikTok content that aligns with cultural trends. Together, their experiences showed that whether through influencers or owned communities, the key lies in sparking authentic conversations that audiences actively want to join.
Generational shifts in search and shopping
Younger generations’ evolving search behaviours were the next topic for discussion, with Google now falling behind Instagram and TikTok for 18 to 24-year-olds seeking information online. The panel agreed that senior marketers may find serving these audiences challenging. Instead, brands should enlist younger colleagues to create authentic campaigns that build ‘tribes’ of advocates.
These generational shifts are also reshaping spending. Harriet noted that Britvic is moving significant spend into TikTok and short-form video, though TV remains part of the mix. Helen finds YouTube Shorts most effective for De’Longhi’s audience, especially when content is creator-led. On the other hand, Look Fabulous Forever’s older customers vastly prefer long-form content - highlighting the importance of understanding and optimising for your audience.
Attributing this engagement means seeing social commerce as a key contextual part of the channel mix. As Helen said, we need to consider “the role of the channel, its stage in the funnel and how it works in the context of the brand.” While purchase decisions are often made on social media, most transactions are made in store or on websites, often even on a different device. It’s easy to make assumptions about how your consumers want to shop - but real qualitative research will uncover these important quirks and link them back to social media.
The road ahead: trust, AI and curiosity
The panel’s closing thoughts focused on the future. Looking ahead, Harriet argued brands must be “less brand-led and more culture-first.” Helen agreed, but warned that “you need clarity on creativity and art direction” to cut through. Janis added that creativity must also be “underpinned by trust and safety” if consumers are to take that final step on-platform.
And what would eCommerce Expo be without touching on AI? The panel diverged here: Britvic has prioritised authenticity as its Gen Z audience has a sharp eye for AI-generated content, De’Longhi is experimenting with AI solely as a thinking and learning enabler, while Look Fabulous Forever actively uses AI to edit and correct imagery efficiently, but never to generate faces or skin.
Despite different approaches, all three panellists agreed that curiosity - about new tools, culture and audiences - will ultimately separate the brands that thrive in social commerce from those that fall behind. While none expect social commerce to replace traditional channels entirely, they agreed it’s not a passing fad. Rather, it’s a cultural shift that rewards attention, experimentation and audience-first focus.