A young woman sits down with a piece of paper and a pencil preparing to write her yearly Christmas list. She didn’t even know where to start so she immediately opened her computer. She went directly to Instagram where her favorite influencer already posted a giant list of clothes, shoes, and accessories to scroll through. As she picked out items from this list she came across different instagram accounts with a variety of outfit ideas. 

She also found that the things she frequently looked at also popped up as advertisements directing her to even more websites with what she wanted. As time went on her Christmas list had become full with ideas, all streaming from a singular social media platform. 

It is becoming much more popular for shoppers to buy directly from Social Platforms. Because of this shopping is quickly becoming a social activity.  Shoppers are beginning to use Social Media in the same way they would use google to search for products. Different brands and stores have diversified their means of making shopping easy by broadening their social media presence. 

This type of social media shopping especially took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many stores were being shut down, and shoppers had to rely only on online options. People relied on social media to purchase products that they could no longer get in stores. 

This type of shopping is available among many different social channels including Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Reddit. Shoppers are also given suggestions on these social channels based on their interests and previous bought items. 

Senior Emma Hannasch relies a lot on social media to influence her buying decisions. She stated that social media introducing shopping has been very bad for her bank account. This feature has caused her to impulsively spend more money, because seeing an advertisement for something that piques her interest immediately encourages her to buy it, “and they make it so easy!” she says. 

Another student, Kennedy Mason, told me: “One time I impulsively bought a huge bean bag chair that I saw on a Tik Tok ad and it never came. I was so sad.” 

This brings up a whole other issue. Scams. 

Many different advertisements that pop up on social media can potentially be a scam. Ways to spot scams are: check if the URL on the ad matches the landing page, research the company before impulsively buying, check the ad for errors or mistakes in grammar or spelling, and check the prices (if the price ends in a weird number e.g. $5.34, it is most likely a scam. 

Shoppers also depend greatly on influencers to inform their purchase decisions. People are constantly watching what social media influencers are promoting, and basing their own purchase decisions on that. 

Influencers on tik tok post videos of different items of clothing, shoes, and accessories, along with the link to the items in their bio’s. This enables followers to see the item on another person before purchasing it themselves. 

Influencer marketing is a social media marketing strategy that relies on influencers to drive awareness and sales of a brand directly to their followers. Influencers are paid to endorse or promote a product to their audience, who, in turn, buy the product from the brand.

Ultimately, The brands that will be successful in the future are those who are able to adapt to the modern world and stay ahead of the curve by  by using a social media setting to promote their products.