Why I Believe Social Marketplaces are the Future of Shopping

When I reflect on the immense and unprecedented year that 2020 has been so far, I’m struck by the many ways in which we’ve seen people rally around one another and embrace new ways of living and connecting. Though CEOs have spent countless hours talking about the future of work, the future of healthcare, the future of retail and beyond, we have suddenly found ourselves in a moment where those “futures” are manifesting before our eyes. 

For the retail industry, in particular, this is a time of extraordinary reckoning. After decades of industry disruption and decline (almost in equal measure), amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic, the desire to shop with purpose and engage with a real person in the process, as opposed to an algorithm, has come back into sharp focus. 

A brief history of shopping

Shopping has always been an inherently social act. It’s much more than a mechanism for trade and commerce. It’s been the connective tissue for cultures and communities for tens of thousands of years. When it’s working as it should, everyone can participate and benefit—a positive experience begets a positive, cyclical economic outcome. But over the past few decades, the integrity of the ritual has been eroded, replaced by faceless convenience and explosive consumption.

In the early days of COVID-19, retail was one of the first industries impacted. Supply chains faltered and factories closed, leading to store closures and disappearing jobs. The economic impact was deep and swift; neither the stalwart big-box retailers nor newer e-commerce giants were immune. Consumers everywhere suddenly found themselves without access to their local store, facing exceedingly long shipping delays and scrambling for in-demand items. This was coupled with separation from their families and friends and a deeply uncertain economic climate.

Like so many of history’s great fissures, these converging pressures have pushed us toward a radically new direction. Companies have recognized that their operations must evolve to become more resilient, while consumers have recognized the benefits of participating in commerce that is more closely connected to their communities and their values. The social commerce movement, which has been gaining ground for a number of years, has finally come to the forefront. 

The future of shopping is social 

Social commerce, put simply, is commerce powered and sustained by people. 

It inverts traditional retail norms by leveraging peer-to-peer influence to propel itself forward, coming to life in social marketplaces like Poshmark. Over the past few months, a widespread embrace of social commerce has catapulted categories like resale into the mainstream, and with breathtaking speed, as consumers look to connect online while also making extra money by selling items from their closets. 

While clothing store sales dipped 80% in April, resale and online marketplaces surged. Whether looking at Etsy’s recent success or the proliferation of social shopping tools being launched by the likes of Facebook and Instagram, it is clear that people fundamentally want to buy from people. 

So, where to from here?

We’re still at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to retail’s next transformation. 

Social marketplaces pay off the reinvigorated consumer desire for an experience that is social but, more than that, they also offer a vast and diverse selection of products, and foster more sustainable consumption.  

As the pandemic continues to alter consumer habits and social technologies continue to augment the buying and selling experience, I believe we’re going to see even more catalyzation around social marketplaces as the preferred way to shop and sell.

• Social interactions will redefine transactions at scale: Social media will collide with ecommerce and the two will intertwine permanently in an effort to capture this new consumer. We’re already seeing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook vying to get in on the social commerce action as consumers hunt for engaging and humanized shopping experiences. 
• Brand diversity will outpace the monoliths: Consumers will emerge as brands and retailers in their own right, and become dominant forces in the industry. Powered by social influence and technology, they will essentially become the storefronts of the future—selling or reselling an enormous diversity of products while also offering deeper, more human experiences. 
• Social marketplaces will feed all forms of sustainability: Whether fueling circularity through resale or creating an outlet for consumers to make a living through side hustles, social marketplaces will continue to be a primary driver of social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

We’re experiencing the dawn of a new age of ecommerce, seeing the future unfurl before our eyes and what’s most exciting is that anyone can take part and everyone can thrive. Have your shopping habits changed during the pandemic, or have you started a side hustle selling on a social marketplace like Poshmark? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.