Social commerce
Social commerce is selling inside social apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, where a shopper finds a product, asks about it and buys without leaving the app.
What it means in practice
A shopper sees your linen shirt in a TikTok video or an Instagram Reel. In a usual setup, they tap through to your website, look for the size chart, and either buy or close the tab. In a social commerce setup, they buy where they found it. On TikTok Shop, they check out inside TikTok. On Instagram and Facebook, the sale often starts with a comment like “price?” or “do you have it in M?”, moves to a direct message, and ends with a payment link in that thread.
Social commerce and conversational commerce overlap. Social commerce is about where the shopper discovers and buys: inside a social app. Conversational commerce is about how the sale happens: inside a conversation. Most social sales that do not go through an in-app checkout are conversational sales too, because they run through comments and DMs.
Why it matters for an online store
- Every step away from the app is a step the shopper can drop. A shopper who has to leave the video, open your site and find the product again often does not finish. See cart abandonment.
- The questions arrive in public and in DMs. “Price?”, “Is it still available?” and “Do you ship to me?” come in as comments under a post and as messages, often at night and often all at once after a post does well.
- Speed decides the sale. A shopper who asked in a comment is interested now. If the answer comes the next morning, they have scrolled on.
- Service comes in the same place. A buyer who ordered through TikTok Shop or a DM asks “where is my order?” in the same app, not by email. See WISMO.
How it works in chat
- Comments become conversations. A comment on your Instagram post or Facebook Page can get an automatic reply that moves the shopper into a DM, where the real answer happens. See Instagram comment to DM.
- The DM answers from your catalog. Price, sizes, stock and delivery come from your store, such as Shopify, or from a Google Sheet if you sell without a website.
- The payment happens in the thread. When the shopper says “I’ll take it”, a payment link arrives in the same DM, and the order is confirmed there once it is paid.
- Marketplace buyers get answered where they bought. On TikTok Shop, buyers message the seller in TikTok Shop buyer chat, and the answer needs the order and product details from that shop.
- Ads can open a chat directly. Click-to-message ads send the shopper straight into a WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger conversation. See click-to-WhatsApp ads.
AeroChat runs this on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and TikTok Shop buyer chat, and supports Shopee and Lazada too. It replies to comments, answers in the DM from your store data, sends an Airwallex payment link and confirms the order in the same conversation.
An example exchange
Comment on an Instagram Reel: Price? Do you have it in M? (example)
AeroChat, replying to the comment: Sent you a DM with the details.
AeroChat, in the DM: Hi! The Coast linen shirt is US$45, and size M is in stock in white and sage. Delivery is US$5, or free over US$60. Which color would you like?
Customer: Sage please. I’ll take it.
AeroChat: Great choice. That’s US$50 with delivery. Here’s your secure payment link.
AeroChat: Payment received, thank you. Your shirt ships tomorrow and I’ll send the tracking link here.
Related terms
Read next
- Conversational commerce in practice: the four pieces a chat sale needs
- Chatbots for social media
- Instagram live comment replies sent to each buyer’s DMs
Turn comments and DMs into paid orders
Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed. Connect Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp and your catalog, and AeroChat answers the comment, quotes in the DM and sends the payment link in the same thread.
On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.