Online shopping was revolutionary at its start. An ingenious invention during its peak, these mobile apps were meant to digitize the experience of going to any sort of physical shop that people frequent. It was simply about choosing an item from an online catalogue, dropping it in the cart, paying, and then having that item delivered. However, recent times have evolved shopping apps to look eerily similar to a person’s Tiktok Fyp or Instagram Reels.
Whether it’s live-streamed product demos or personalized feeds and interactive comment sections, e-commerce platforms are no longer just about buying. These shopping apps now have the goal of engaging, influencing, and keeping users addicted.
Let us dive into the social mediafication of shopping apps.
Shopping Feeds That Feel Like Social Media
Big e-commerce stores like AliExpress, Temu, and Jumia have revamped their interfaces to copy the experience of social media platforms. Instead of simple product listings, users now scroll through infinite feeds of trending items, product recommendations, and user-generated content, just like the Instagram Reels page does.
This shift did not come about by accident but has developed after e-commerce companies realised the best way to get people to make impulse purchases is by keeping buyers on their applications for as long as possible.
With the engaging social media features and the opportunities to make purchases, people can now falsely feel like they are dipping their hands into the dream life of their curated feed and taking a little piece of it for themselves.
Influencers and Livestream Shopping
Ads, as annoying as they sometimes tend to be, are rather good at influencing people to get items they may or may not need. Livestream shopping takes this to another dimension, allowing people to be influenced to get a product and buy it at the same time, on the same string of thought.
Platforms like TikTok Shop, Shein Live, and Amazon Live are turning influencers into mini salespeople, allowing them to showcase products via live streams. Shoppers can ask questions, get instant answers, and purchase items with a single click.
Likes, Comments, and Social Proof
The desire for validation is a powerful way to get people to do things, and in the e-commerce world, this translates to marketing validation. Shopping apps now encourage users to review products with videos, like and comment on posts, and even follow favorite brands, just like they would on social media. While it is nearly harmless on social media, in shopping instances, there is the added consequence of spent money on the shoppers’ end.
Is this an Issue?
The social mediafication of shopping apps has proven to be both a blessing and a disadvantage to different groups of people in varying circumstances.
For instance, many shopping apps are becoming gamified thanks to this phenomenon. On one end, there are now daily rewards, referral bonuses, and interactive challenges to keep users engaged; however, making users return daily for perks trains shoppers to check their shopping feeds and possibly make purchases multiple times a day.
Another instance is the point on marketing validation. While this may encourage excessive and obsessive spending, it also creates a community-driven shopping experience, where people buy based on real opinions rather than faceless product descriptions.
The main issue comes when people are no longer able to differentiate between entertainment and financial choices.
The Future of Social Commerce
As shopping apps continue to evolve into different forms of social media, the definition of traditional e-commerce is now in flux. Soon, expect to see even more features like AI-driven product recommendations, deeper influencer-brand collaborations, and immersive AR shopping experiences.
The question is no longer whether shopping apps will become social but how much they can influence and reshape shopper habits.
What do you think of this phenomenon? is it just another evolutionary change to embrace? Let us know down below. For a similar article, click here.
