People Aren't Shopping on Social Anymore

AS BUYING BEHAVIOURS SHIFT, META PULLS SHOPPING

Last week a study came out about Meta as a shopping destination and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first.

The headline that was grabbing attention is “65% of social app users consider Meta’s apps shopping destinations.”

That looks like great news for Facebook, because they have been hard at work trying to become a SuperApp that includes every step in the customer journey, the same way that many apps operate in parts of Asia. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll see that the majority of that “shopping” is limited to Facebook Marketplace. For most Meta users, the apps are still places to discover new brands, but they still prefer to checkout on a website.

The numbers clicked for me when this week the same source reported that both Facebook and Instagram are pulling back their efforts to promote their Shop features. The tabs that were only recently introduced are apparently not getting the warm reception that Meta had hoped for.

The bigger story here is a simple one: During the pandemic our behaviours shifted dramatically. We were forced to move nearly 100% of our shopping online, so brands and platforms reacted logically, leaning into that new reality and building features for us as if those behaviours were going to last forever.

But of course, they didn’t. Today, retail sales are back to (roughly) to 2019 levels, and the competition for our attention once again includes the real world. Behavioural assumptions that would have been logical just one year ago no longer make sense, and so everyone from platforms to small e-commerce shops are having to rethink the assumptions they’ve made.

Will we eventually move to a SuperApp scenario where everything from social to streaming and shopping happen in one place? That certainly seems likely, but for the near future it’s safe to assume that the majority of checkouts won’t be happening on Facebook or Instagram.

IN OTHER NEWS— META'S COMING FOR LINKEDIN

Until now, the only true business-to-business advertising network has been Linkedin, but even there the performance hasn't always lived up to expectations.

In a recent announcement, Meta shared that they're adding B2B audiences. It's unclear how, or where, that targeting is going to be available, but this is a clear move to broaden their potential pool of advertisers. This follows a statement in their Q2 earnings about "a continuation of the weak advertising demand environment... which we believe is being driven by broader macroeconomic uncertainty."

So where is a global giant to turn when the very advertising market that it's monopolized has a down quarter? B2B marketing is big business, with an estimated $30 Billion projected to be spent next year, and only a tiny fraction of that currently being spent with Meta.

Its success will rely on its ability to deliver results, which is yet to be proven. Right now Facebook is being pretty vague in their description of B2B targeting, but the fact is that we don't tell Facebook nearly as much about our professional lives as we do Linkedin, and it's unlikely that we are in the mood to buy enterprise software as we're scrolling through our Facebook newsfeed.

On the other hand, Facebook has proven itself many times to be the most effective advertising platform of all time, so betting against them is rarely a good idea.

We'll be keeping a close eye on this one, and will test out the product as soon as the targeting becomes available.

Written by Conner Galway, Junction Consulting