Ultimate Guide to Social Commerce: What Brands Need to Know in 2025

Buying and selling directly through social media, known as social commerce, has grown from a trend into a powerful sales channel that’s revolutionizing e-commerce.

Social commerce’s value grew to approximately $727.63 billion in 2022, and analysts at Grand View Research project it will continue expanding at a huge pace, potentially exceeding $3 trillion by 2030.

If your brand wants to maximize growth in 2025, embracing social commerce should be on your to-do list. 

This guide breaks down everything you need to know, from platform selection and influencer partnerships to setting up a social commerce strategy.

What Is Social Commerce?

Social commerce brings the entire shopping journey, from product discovery and purchase through to post-purchase engagement, onto social media platforms. 

Social selling keeps consumers where they spend their time and streamlines the sales funnel. Shoppers can go from inspiration to checkout in seconds, with just a few clicks. 

For brands, this shift boosts engagement and strengthens customer relationships by making shopping more interactive and personalized. 

Social commerce offers a direct, community-driven path to purchasing that traditional e-commerce often doesn’t.

Brands across industries are using social commerce to reach and engage new audiences. Here are a few current examples of how platforms support social commerce:

• Instagram: Instagram’s Shop feature and Checkout allow users to browse products and purchase without leaving the app. Instagram Stories and Reels are especially powerful for brands, driving high conversions with authentic, engaging content.

• Facebook: Facebook Shops enable brands to set up storefronts accessible via both Facebook and Instagram, making it easy for users to discover and buy products.

• TikTok: TikTok’s integration of shoppable video ads lets brands tap into its vast audience, combining entertainment with shopping.

• Pinterest: With the Pinterest Shop tab, users can explore and buy products directly from pins, making Pinterest a highly visual, discovery-focused shopping platform.

These platforms not only make shopping more interactive but also build community and loyalty by meeting customers in the social spaces they frequent.

What Is a Social Commerce Platform?

A social commerce platform allows brands to set up shop directly on social media.

Today’s top social commerce platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest, have dedicated e-commerce features, such as in-app checkouts, shoppable posts, and personalized product feeds.

A social commerce platform can also be an application.

For example, Later acts as a social commerce platform that empowers brands to succeed in social commerce through tools like influencer marketing and affiliate link tracking, supported by its collaboration with Mavely. 

With Later, brands can extend their reach and connect with audiences across channels. 

By tracking affiliate links and monitoring campaign performance, brands can optimize their social commerce strategies, creating a streamlined and impactful presence on social media.

Why Social Commerce Matters in 2025

With social media continuing to grow, social commerce is already an established channel for digital shopping, transforming how brands engage with consumers. 

Social commerce allows brands to connect with consumers on platforms they already use, creating a seamless and interactive shopping experience.

Insights from Later’s Research Team reveal that creators increasingly “prioritize income-driven metrics such as sales and click-through rates over broader engagement metrics.”

Authentic, informative content, especially in Stories and Reels on Instagram, has proven to drive the highest conversions, “with authentic and informative content outperforming traditional sales tactics.”

Instagram remains the top platform for affiliate link sharing, with “71% of creators using it in both stories and bio link pages.” However, creators are calling for fair compensation for their top-of-funnel contributions, as “earnings uncertainty is the main concern for commission-only campaigns.”

Key Takeaways for Brands

Now you know why it matters, here are some strategies to help your brand make the most of social commerce and connect meaningfully with your audience:

Performance Metrics Matter

As creators and brands increasingly shift their focus toward measurable outcomes, metrics like click-through rates and sales have become essential in evaluating social commerce success. 

Unlike traditional engagement metrics (such as likes or shares), income-driven metrics directly reflect consumer interest and purchasing intent, helping brands understand what types of content truly drive revenue.

By tracking and prioritizing these metrics, brands can adjust their social commerce strategies to align with consumer behavior, helping to boost conversions.

Embrace Instagram

Instagram remains a powerhouse in social commerce, especially for affiliate-driven sales. 

With features like Stories and Reels, which offer dynamic, short-form content, Instagram allows brands to reach consumers in a natural, engaging way that integrates seamlessly into users’ daily browsing. 

Research shows that Stories and Reels not only drive high engagement but also lead to significant conversions when combined with affiliate links, making Instagram a top choice for brands looking to maximize their social commerce efforts.

Making the most of Instagram’s affiliate-friendly features, brands can connect with creators who specialize in authentic, story-driven content, building trust and fostering purchase-ready audiences.

Prioritize Authentic Content

In social commerce, authenticity resonates more with audiences than anything too salesy. 

Consumers increasingly seek genuine, relatable content from creators and brands, which builds trust and drives purchase intent. 

Authentic content, such as creators sharing personal experiences with a product or behind-the-scenes brand stories, leads to a sense of connection and transparency.

By partnering with creators who produce real, informative content and avoiding overly polished advertisements, brands can strengthen audience trust and encourage conversions in a natural, compelling way.

To launch a successful social commerce strategy, brands can follow these steps:

1. Choose Your Platforms: Start by identifying where your target audience is most active. Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are popular choices for social commerce, but each platform has unique features and benefits.

2. Build Affiliate and Influencer Partnerships: Social commerce thrives on authentic, relatable recommendations. Later can help connect your brand with creators and track affiliate link performance, especially with the added benefit of our Mavely partnership.

3. Optimize for Conversion: Prioritize income-driven metrics like click-through rates and conversions. Visual content, especially video, is key to capturing attention and driving sales.

4. Track and Refine: Social commerce is data-rich. By monitoring metrics, brands can continuously refine their strategies to improve performance. Tools like Later make it easy to access actionable data for ongoing optimization.

Each of these steps contributes to a stronger social commerce strategy, making it easier to engage customers and drive sales within social platforms.

Predictions for Social Commerce in 2025

Looking ahead, we can expect social commerce to become even more ingrained in digital shopping. Some trends to watch for include:

• Video Shopping Growth: As video content continues to dominate social media, brands should expect an increase in video shopping formats, from TikTok to shoppable YouTube videos.

• More Integrated Shopping Experiences: Like Facebook’s Shops feature, more platforms may add seamless shopping tools that streamline discovery and purchase.

• Greater Focus on Authenticity: Audiences respond to genuine, relatable content. Brands that prioritize authenticity and storytelling will likely see stronger results in their social commerce efforts.

• Enhanced Affiliate Programs: Platforms like Later and Mavely are making it easier for brands to track affiliate links and drive conversions, and this is expected to become a must-have tool for social commerce in 2025.

These predictions show that the social commerce landscape will continue to evolve, creating new opportunities for brands to connect with customers.

Get Ahead with Social Commerce

Social commerce is reshaping the digital shopping experience and providing brands with direct access to consumers where they are most engaged. 

As the market continues to grow, brands that adopt social commerce early and effectively will gain a competitive edge.

Later’s collaboration with Mavely enhances this by providing advanced affiliate link tracking, enabling brands to:

• Track every interaction, from clicks to conversions, providing transparency in campaign performance.

• Identify top-performing affiliate influencers and adjust strategies for maximum ROI.

• Incentivize influencers with accurate, performance-based compensation.

Ready to integrate social commerce into your strategy? Book a demo with Later Influence to see how you can drive more sales and engagement with ease.