How to Boost Your CPG Ecommerce Sales
with Social Selling
Haylee Reed is a Content Marketing Writer at BigCommerce, where she partners with the SEO team to craft narratives and blog content.
With U.S. food and beverage ecommerce sales expected to reach $80 billion in 2022 (up 20.7% from nearly $65 billion last year), it’s safe to say that CPG brands like yours are on the rise.
But gone are the days of supermarkets being the only place to buy groceries. Today, more and more consumers are turning online for their everyday needs. In fact, our 2022 Global Consumer Report, which surveyed over 4,000 online shoppers, found that 47% of respondents said they purchase personal care products online and 45% purchase groceries online — which means CPG brands need to create online shopping experiences that live up to those in-store.
Ultimately, many of the most successful businesses are the ones with a strong omnichannel strategy — weaving together all business channels, online and offline, to create a consistent, engaging customer experience.
And leveraging social selling is a key way to achieve that.
What is Social Selling?
Social selling occurs when retailers sell products directly through social media platforms, which allows potential customers to interact with brands, browse goods and make purchases online.
Rather than redirecting customers to an online store, social commerce brings the store to the customer, meeting them wherever they are. By letting the customer checkout directly through social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, social commerce removes unnecessary steps and streamlines the buying process.
Top Social Selling Platforms
TikTok
Boasting 1 billion active users as of September, 2021, TikTok is a short-form video-sharing app where users can create, respond to and engage with video content and filters. The app is enormously popular especially among younger audiences, with Gen Z-ers making up 60% of TikTok users.
Here are just some of the social selling features you’ll find on TikTok:
- Shoppable posts.
- Livestream shopping capabilities.
- Opportunities for influence marketing.
- Product ads on users’ “For You” feeds.
- “Shop Now” button.
- Brand Takeovers.
- Branded Hashtag Challenges.
Needless to say, there’s a reason the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt now has more than 346.5M views. Learn more about how to get started selling on TikTok with BigCommerce.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram)
If you’re one of Facebook’s nearly 3.45 billion monthly active users or Instagram’s 1 billion active users, you likely already know how crucial these platforms are to any brand’s marketing strategy.
In fact, according to Facebook data, merchants that tag 5+ days per month on their feed see on average:
- 278% increase in product page visits.
- 231% increase in purchases.
- 216% increase in sales.
And with 70% of shoppers looking to Instagram for product discovery, it’s safe to say that these are some of the most promising social commerce platforms on the market.
Here’s what you can expect to achieve when you integrate your BigCommerce store and start selling with Meta:
- Discover new customers: Leverage Facebook tools to connect with new audiences across Facebook and Instagram using targeted ads.
- Manage inventory, ads and more: Automatically sync your catalog to simplify inventory management, creating ads and tagging products.
- Sell more: Easily create product tags and product stickers and start streamlining purchases directly from your Instagram profile or Story.
How to Start Social Selling with BigCommerce
Want to start building your omnichannel strategy but aren’t sure where to start?
With an ecommerce platform like BigCommerce, merchants can easily connect to the world’s largest marketplaces, such as Walmart, Facebook, Amazon, eBay, Wish, Mercado Libre, Instagram, TikTok and Google Ads.
Plus, you’ll have access to ecommerce solutions to help make the setup process easier than ever. These industry-leading tools are built to help you create the ultimate omnichannel selling experience:
- Feedonomics: Helps merchants pull their product data from their BigCommerce store and list those products on 100+ global channels (Google, Meta, Amazon, eBay, TikTok and more).
- Codisto: Enables merchants to advertise and sell on the world’s largest sales channels such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Google, all from within the BigCommerce control panel.
Social Commerce Success Stories
To see social selling in action, let’s take a look at a few of our very own BigCommerce merchants who have succeeded in the omnichannel space. By leveraging social channels, these retailers have been able to drive sales and create a seamless online shopping experience.
Savannah Bee Company
Savannah Bee Company is a CPG business that specializes in artisanal honey, beauty products, totes, books, home goods and more, with products selling in over 2,000 stores around the world.
However, the company’s success isn’t just limited to the brick-and-mortar space — they also hold a strong online presence.
With shoppable posts on Instagram and Pinterest, a “Beekeeping 101” series on YouTube and a number of honey-infused recipes on TikTok, Savannah Bee Co. definitely knows how to create a buzz with its online audience.
Spiceology
A chef-owned and operated CPG company known for its innovative signature blends and small-batch ground spices, Spiceology knows how to bring the heat both online and offline. Although customers can purchase Spiceology products from one of its retail stores or stockists, a major way the company reaches new customers is through its social channels.
Through #FlavorHacks videos on TikTok, a complete Facebook Shop and a “Spiceology Mixology” series on YouTube, Spiceology creates the ultimate omnichannel experience across all of its channels.
The Final Word
In the age of Amazon and Instagram Shopping, it’s no longer uncommon to find customers shopping online for clothing, health and beauty products, home decor and even larger investments like cars — and CPG products are no exception.
In fact, digital CPG sales are projected to account for 10% of the total U.S. CPG market (up from approximately 4–5% in 2019), which means the time to sell online is now.
And one of the best ways to kickstart your ecommerce business is to utilize social media channels to market and sell your products. With the help of an ecommerce platform like BigCommerce, you’ll be able to meet customers where they are and create the quickest, most convenient path to checkout.
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