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Social commerce is the buying and selling of products directly inside social media apps, so someone can spot a product and pay for it without leaving the feed. It is one way to run an eCommerce website, meeting buyers on the platforms where they already spend their time.
If you are already comfortable selling products online, it is another channel to add to your multichannel sales. For example, Wix allows merchants to sell directly on TikTok and Instagram, so products show up where people already scroll. This guide covers how social commerce works, the main platforms and real examples.
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TL;DR: what is social commerce?
Social commerce turns social media into a place to sell, not just a place to post. It collapses discovery and checkout into one moment, so buyers act while their interest is fresh. These are the gains that make it worth setting up.
Benefit | What it means for you |
Shorter path to purchase | Buyers go from discovery to checkout in a few taps. |
Built-in social proof | Reviews, user content and creator posts build trust right at the point of sale. |
Reach new audiences | Products surface to people already scrolling, not only those actively searching. |
Mobile-first selling | Built for how people actually shop, on their phones. |
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What is social commerce?
Social commerce is the sale of products and services that happens inside a social media platform, from the first glance to the final tap to pay. Instead of pointing people to a separate store, it turns the feed itself into the store.
The flow runs in four stages. Discovery, when a shoppable post or video catches a buyer's eye. Consideration, when they tap a product tag or read a few reviews. Purchase, ideally without leaving the app. Then advocacy, when a happy buyer posts about it and pulls in the next one.
Social commerce is not the same as social selling, which builds relationships and leads over time, often in B2B and closes the sale elsewhere. Social commerce is the transaction itself. It is part of a wider move toward extended commerce, where buying happens wherever attention already is.
Social commerce vs eCommerce
Social commerce and eCommerce describe different parts of selling online. eCommerce is the broad practice of selling through your own website, app or a marketplace, where buyers usually arrive with intent. Social commerce is a slice of that, where the storefront and often the checkout sit inside a social platform and buyers arrive through discovery.
The two are complementary, not an either-or choice. A common setup is a full online store for your catalog and repeat customers, with social channels catching new buyers at the moment. For a closer look, see eCommerce vs social commerce.
Aspect | Social commerce | eCommerce |
Where the sale happens | Inside the social app | On your own website, app or a marketplace |
How buyers arrive | Discovery, they find products while scrolling | Intent, they search for what they want |
Checkout | In-app on supported platforms | On your site or marketplace |
Best for | Impulse buys, social proof, reaching new audiences | High-intent buyers and full brand control |
Control over the experience | Limited to the platform's tools | Full control of design, data and checkout |
Top social commerce platforms and examples
Around 5.66 billion people, nearly 64% of the world's population, are active on social media, according to Datareportal. That reach is why every major platform now has its own shopping tools. Pick the one where your audience already spends time.
TikTok Shop: An in-app storefront, shoppable videos, livestream selling and an affiliate program that lets creators earn a cut for promoting your products. Discovery does the heavy lifting here, so one video can take a product from unknown to sold out. A skincare brand can run a live demo, answer questions in real time and check out viewers without sending them off the app, turning a single stream into a full sales event.
Instagram Shopping: A storefront on your profile plus product tags in posts, Reels and Stories, and creators can tag your products too. Tapping a tag opens the product details, then sends shoppers to your site to buy. A jewelry maker can tag pieces in a styled flat-lay so followers move from the photo to the product page in a tap, and a short Reel of the pieces being worn does the same at scale.
Facebook Shops: A storefront on your Page, product tags and the reach of Marketplace across a broad age range, including older shoppers who are harder to find elsewhere. Browsing happens in-app and checkout usually finishes on your site. A homeware seller can launch a seasonal collection to people who already follow the Page and keep repeat buyers coming back.
Pinterest: Shoppable Pins built for planning-led buying, where people save ideas now and come back to buy later. It skews toward high intent, since many users arrive specifically to plan a purchase or a project. A home decor brand can turn a board of saved Pins into a wishlist that converts weeks down the line, long after the first save.
YouTube Shopping: A Store tab on your channel plus product tags in long videos, Shorts and livestreams. Longer videos give higher-priced or more technical products room to earn trust before the click. A fitness creator can link the exact gear shown in a workout, turning a tutorial into a storefront that keeps selling every time the video is watched.
Managing several of these at once is where a commerce platform helps. Wix supports omnichannel sales across online marketplaces and social platforms, so orders and inventory stay in one place instead of scattered across apps.
Learn more:
Benefits of social commerce
The pull of social commerce is meeting people where they already are and cutting the steps between wanting something and buying it. A few benefits stand out.
A shorter path to purchase: Discovery and checkout sit together, so fewer buyers drop off on the way to a separate site. Every extra step is a chance to lose the sale, and social commerce removes most of them.
Built-in social proof: Reviews, comments and creator posts do the convincing, right next to the buy button. People trust other people, so that proof carries more weight than a product description ever could.
Access to new audiences: The algorithm surfaces your products to people who were not searching for you. One post that lands can reach buyers who had never heard of your brand.
A mobile-first experience: Social apps are built for phones, matching how most people browse and buy. The checkout is designed for a thumb, not a desktop mouse.
Faster feedback: Engagement tells you what is landing within hours, not weeks. You can double down on a winner early or quietly drop something that misses.
Common challenges of social commerce
Social commerce is not friction-free. The good news is that most trade-offs have a clear workaround.
Platform dependency: An algorithm change can shift your reach overnight, so build an email list and an owned store as a backstop. That way a bad week on one platform does not take your whole business with it.
Buyer trust: Clear policies, honest reviews and quick replies reassure shoppers who are cautious about buying in-app. Scams have made people wary, so visible proof that you are a real, responsive seller goes a long way.
Customer service load: Questions arrive across several apps, so pull them into one place to keep replies fast. A slow answer in a public comment thread can cost you the sale and the next shopper reading it.
Standing out: Feeds are crowded, so consistent, useful content beats sheer volume. A clear, recognizable brand voice helps people remember you between scrolls.
Fees and margins: Commissions, payment fees and returns add up, so build them into your pricing from the start. A busy month at thin margins can quietly run at a loss if the numbers are not set up right.
The bigger one is fragmented operations. Selling on several channels means orders and stock can live in different dashboards, until you pull them together the way an omnichannel retail setup does.
"In an age where social media algorithms are constantly changing it is important for me to have a space that is completely my own. It gives me consistency, creative freedom and a place where people can experience my work exactly as I intend it to be seen." — Chiara Celini, illustrator
How to set up social commerce with Wix
To set up social commerce with Wix, you connect your product catalog to your social channels and manage every order, payment and stock update from one dashboard.
Wix supports global and omnichannel eCommerce with multilingual storefronts, multi-currency payments, marketplace and social selling, mobile apps and integrated point-of-sale systems for online and offline sales. That keeps social selling connected to the rest of your business instead of running as a separate tool. The setup breaks down into five steps.
Set up your store: Choose Wix Stores and the channels where your audience already spends time.
Build your product catalog: Add clear titles, descriptions, prices and high-quality images. If you sell variations, Wix supports variant-level product management including individual pricing, inventory and SKU control per variant.
Connect your sales channels: Link social platforms and marketplaces so products and stock sync from one dashboard.
Set up payment and checkout: Turn on payments and decide where checkout happens on each channel. Wix offers a wide range of tools to collect payments and manage transactions built into your website.
Manage and scale: Track orders and inventory in one place, then add channels as you learn what sells.
Did you know? Wix supports high-performance eCommerce operations with a rebuilt product catalog, advanced storefront merchandising tools and AI-driven conversion features including automated discount logic, product recommendations and abandoned cart recovery.
Here is how one merchant describes the build. "I built our website in less than a week. I didn't want an eCommerce site that was clunky and difficult to update, where the smallest change required a developer. This was a lean startup so we wanted a website that we could easily update ourselves in a really simple and time-efficient way. So that's how I decided on Wix." So says Andrea Shubert, co-founder of Strathcona Spirits.
What is social commerce FAQ
Do I need a website to sell on social media?
Not to start. You can sell through a platform's native shopping tools alone. A website still helps, since it gives you an owned home for your brand, full control of the buying experience and a place to keep the audience you build on social.
Is social commerce safe for buyers?
It can be, especially on platforms with native checkout and buyer protection. Shoppers stay safer by buying from established sellers, checking reviews and avoiding deals that push them to pay outside the app.
What products sell best through social commerce?
Visual, lower-cost and impulse-friendly products tend to do best, think fashion, beauty, accessories, home decor and gadgets. Anything that looks good in a short video or photo and does not need a long decision suits the format.
