One of the emerging payment trends set to transform online shopping is the advent of 'buy buttons' on social media posts.
These are clickable buttons embedded in social media sites that allow consumers to make a purchase straight from an e-tailer's post.
Previously, social media was viewed more as a means of promoting a retail offering than as a way of converting sales.
The emergence of the buy button as a new social media business tool means all retailers need to be thinking about their buy button strategy as a way of increasing sales.
But, as Anil Kaul, CEO of software business Absolutedata notes in a recent article, buy buttons have pros and cons and it's important to understand these before embarking on a new social media sales strategy.
While this functionality will most likely increase sales from impulse purchases, careful forethought needs to go into supply chain planning to ensure sales from social media are properly managed.
In addition, it's important to understand that people who buy items from a social media post may not be inclined to visit the business's comprehensive website, where its full retail offering can be found.
It's also vital to acknowledge that social media platforms will charge for businesses to list their products using buy buttons, which should be factored into profit planning.
For most businesses, the idea will be to start small and test how the buy button works on one social media platform and then extrapolate insights from this to other platforms in the future.
Creates an additional marketing channel for businesses.
Delivers greater access to people who want to buy from social media sites.
Increases sales from impulse purchases.
Social media platforms will charge a fee for this service, which could impact margins.
Potential reduction in traffic to web site as people buying from social media platforms are not redirected to the main site.
Consumers only exposed to a limited range of products.