How does social commerce work from a technical perspective? Presenting the sales mechanism during live streaming on Facebook.

Social Media in Everyday Life

Poles are spending more and more time on social media, currently averaging 2 hours per day. The average Polish internet user spends about 6.5 hours online daily, with 30% of that time dedicated to social media—a significant figure that is expected to grow. For many brands, social media has become the primary communication channel with customers and is poised to become a major sales channel in the future, following the Asian model.

Social media provides users with the same shopping experience regardless of the purchase location. Brands gain a competitive advantage and win the battle for customers by offering products and the ability to purchase them instantly—without redirecting users to external stores or payment platforms. These practices are shaping a new quality of e-commerce.

Chinese Sprinkle of Forecasts

Based on analysesof the market’s current growth, forecasts predict increasing interest in this shopping method. The number of users interested in social commerce is expected to rise rapidly, and the market will gradually respond to this trend by adjusting its offerings. Those who quickly adopt this new model and learn to sell in real-time will benefit the most.

Fortune Favors the Bold—Polish Experiments

It’s challenging to find large retail brands on the Polish market successfully implementing social commerce. Generally, these are small boutiques, particularly in women’s fashion. Often, the sales processes of these brands are prepared in somewhat makeshift ways, which actually enhances their credibility in the eyes of customers. Below are two examples that stand out in scale.

How Does the Purchasing Process Work?

• The product feed is presented analog-style, with a product label listing price, sizes, quantities, and colors.
• A rotation of two or three models showcases clothing or accessories.
• Purchases are made by leaving a comment under the live stream—this flexible method often leads to errors and misunderstandings.
• The transaction is recorded by a person monitoring the discussion—verbally confirming the buyer’s name and the purchased product.
• Purchase confirmation is sent via Messenger.
• Payment is often made by regular bank transfer, sometimes even before the store confirms the order.
• Competitions are settled by scrolling through user comments and randomly (or not) selecting a winner.
  
  

What Does User Engagement Look Like?

• Glamour Store, located in a small town in the Lubusz Voivodeship (population: 18,000), has 95,544 followers.
• Average figures: 30,000 views per live stream, 1,500 comments, 2,000 shares.
• In just 10 minutes, the store generates an average revenue of 15,000 PLN, with each broadcast lasting about two hours.
• Broadcast time: 6:00 PM.
• Estimated number of orders: 200.
• Average product value: 300 PLN (not per basket).
• Users often compete in the comments for products, especially when items are limited.

Despite the somewhat analog process, Glamour Store is thriving in social commerce, achieving high viewership and engagement, which directly translates into financial success.

Live Streaming Sales

To transfer the concept of social commerce into more formal and automated frameworks, allowing larger brands and sales structures to participate, several key aspects must be considered.

The community surrounding the two examples mentioned above is strongly connected to the presenters. Viewers often identify with them, sharing the same language, humor, and aesthetic preferences. The engagement seen in comments and the activity of individuals creates the impression of “brand devotees”—an excellent source of potential brand ambassadors.

The regularity of live streams and engagement-building on the profile is critical for maintaining customer retention. Regular broadcasts make it easier to attract a wider audience of potentially interested users while keeping existing customers engaged.

To automate the process, the product feed must have its digital counterpart. It can be indexed using provided tools or exported with specific tags from sales systems. The physical products presented should then be tagged, allowing users to reference them in comments, which will enable automated tracking of purchasing decisions.

The next step involves enabling payments within the social media platform using Webview (Android) and UIWebview (iOS).

What Are the Benefits for Brands?

Implementing social commerce strategies and tools allows brands to offer their products in channels preferred by users. Since this is still a novelty, this shopping format attracts curiosity and draws many users.

Live sales allow brands to observe user engagement in real-time and analyze reactions to presented products. This enables better optimization of the product offering based on the audience. Additionally, brands can build an engaged community and acquire brand ambassadors. Personalized remarketing based on data gathered during the purchasing process is another benefit.

Automating this process also allows for better selection of presented products and the implementation of cross-selling and up-selling during live streams. Introducing a chatbot further synchronizes the shopping cart in real-time.