How Trnd aims to improve influencer shopping experiences

The U.S. social commerce market, expected to be worth a staggering $89.11 billion by 2022, is on a rapid growth path.

With data showing a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.2% from 2023 to 2030, revenues in this segment are expected to soon exceed the one trillion dollar mark.

This booming market is largely influenced by the rise of influencer and creator marketing, a key factor driving the growth of social commerce.

Research shows that influencer campaigns have an average engagement rate of 4.2%, significantly higher than the 0.9% seen in non-influencer campaigns. Moreover, 60% of consumers declare that they trust the recommendations of influential people when making purchasing decisions.

Despite these promising statistics, social media shopping often adds friction to the purchasing process. Most existing solutions require multiple steps between product discovery and transaction execution.

With shoppers’ attention spans getting shorter, now averaging around eight seconds, these lengthy processes often lead to high cart abandonment rates.

The Baymard Institute reports that the average shopping cart abandonment rate on the Internet is 70.19%, of which over 18% is the result of complicated checkout processes.

Paul do Forno, managing director, Customer Experience and Commerce, Deloitte Digital, agreed that the lack of a fast and easy-to-use payment experience associated with this shopping experience is a major obstacle for shoppers.

“You need an easy or integrated payment mechanism that allows for quick conversions, especially in social shopping where every second counts. However, if it is too difficult to fill out a form or find the payment button, it negatively affects conversions,” he said.

One company that is solving these specific problems is Trnd, a social commerce platform designed to streamline social shopping by enabling brands to provide influencers with curated storefronts with a seamless, one-click checkout experience across any social channel.

Trnd harnesses the power of social proof and consumers’ emotional connections with influencers, enabling them to buy directly from influencers they trust, rather than through anonymous intermediary platforms or newly discovered brands.

Noting that data beyond awareness metrics has been a major gap for both influencers and creators engaging in campaigns, this tool provides in-depth analysis, not only of likes and comments, but also the business impact of influencer campaigns.

These include comprehensive marketing funnel data and back-end analytics, providing detailed campaign reporting, from high-level overview to granular detail.

This data allows brands and creators to see which audiences and products are most popular, helping to better allocate resources and improve the ROI of gifting programs and customer acquisition costs.

This approach fosters long-term, more sustainable partnerships between brands and influencers, moving beyond one-off campaigns and focusing on cultivating brand evangelists who consistently promote products across multiple campaigns.

One brand using Trnd is Pushup Chalk, a chalk product in a tube for sports purposes. The brand’s founder and CEO, Anthony Whalen, said getting started with Trnd was simple and straightforward, even for a newcomer to the e-commerce space.

“The setup process was intuitive, and my creators were able to onboard, start building, and get paid all in one place,” Whalen said.

He also expressed satisfaction with Trnd’s discount logic, which eliminates the need for unique codes, further reducing friction in conversion rate flow and eliminating the risk of code compromise.

Looking ahead, Trnd plans to expand its community of brand partners and influencers through referral programs, thereby scaling its curated storefront experience across brands and categories.

Their long-term goal is to further eliminate the confusion associated with one-time links and codes, simplifying the consumer shopping experience on social commerce.

The future of social commerce in the U.S. holds significant growth opportunities, reminiscent of the market’s success in Asia. As Trnd continues to innovate and remove barriers to conversion optimization, the platform is making strides to improve the ever-evolving social commerce landscape.