Airline body urges African governments to act on opening market access
‘Strategies don’t move people. Now it is time to make the difficult decisions and execute them,’ senior executive stresses.
E-COMMERCE
Nearly 10% of online shopping traffic now comes from social media
By our News Team | 2021
Social media is becoming an increasingly important source of customers for online sellers, a recent international study finds.
In Q2 2021, 8.9% of visits to digital commerce sites came from social media, up from 6.6% in Q3 2019. Social media’s importance is even higher for digital commerce traffic on tablets and mobile devices, taking a double-digit share of traffic.
Social media is becoming an increasingly important source of customers for online sellers, according to worldwide data from the Salesforce Shopping Index.
The way we shop has changed. We’re no longer limited to store browsing or online shopping; we can click through from a brand’s Instagram page and easily purchase that shirt featured in a post.
Photo by Cardmapr at Unsplash
The share of visits to digital commerce sites that came from a social media platform has risen steadily over the past two years, and this share is likely to rise further when including the role of ‘dark’ social platforms.
Dark social and invisible shares
Dark social describes the ‘invisible’ shares that happen through channels such as messengers, but also email and text messages. If you go to a newspaper, pick any article and send the URL via Facebook Messenger to one of your friends, you’ve shared it via dark social. For that newspaper, the share will come up as ‘direct’, even though you didn’t type the whole link into your browser. This makes dark social a form of referral traffic that is attributed to the wrong channel.
The share of visits to digital commerce sites which came from a social media platform is even higher for mobile and tablet traffic. For visits to digital commerce sites on a tablet device, 16.0% came from a social media platform. This is more than double the Q3 2019 level. For mobile devices, 11.6% of traffic was from social media, according to the study.
Brands are also recognising this opportunity, with influencers and livestream content being popular ways to attract audiences to e-commerce sites.
However, the cost of social media and e-commerce advertising is rising quickly and this could be a challenge for advertisers selling online. As marketers invest more, it will also be vital to rethink the role of brand in digital commerce.
Source: Salesforce Shopping Index, WARC Data
Uganda Tourism Board partners with major European ice hockey league
UTB says its ambition is to turn the visibility into interest, bookings and more visitors choosing to explore Uganda.
Researchers explain why 10-second micro ads outperform longer spots
Short ads shown on TV increased website visits within five minutes of airing by 10-40% compared with longer advertisements.
Competition continues to grow in the Moroccan supermarket sector
Supeco’s rapid expansion shows how the discount model is becoming a bigger part of grocery retail in the North African country.
Study identifies harmful paradox behind well-meaning green efforts
Consumers reward visible eco-friendly additions such as reusable bottles, but give little credit to businesses that reduce or remove products.
President Mahama commissions expanded evaporated milk facility in Ghana
Nestlé believes Ghana will continue to play a leading role in the future of Central and West Africa.
Momentum beginning to build for 2027 ACCS gathering in Addis Ababa
Ethiopia’s marketers gather to celebrate hosting next year’s conference – but with an eye on the hard work ahead.
PwC report examines the future of African entertainment and media
Tech is creating more ways for audiences to connect, but lasting value will come from understanding the people behind those connections.
Unilever investment expands its Vaseline production capacity in Africa
The new production line at the historic Maydon Wharf facility in Durban will address growing international demand.
World MICE Awards in Jamaica honour best African and global achievers
Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and South Africa all feature in the African meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions awards.
AI won’t replace market research. But it will expose weak strategy
Much of the broader conversation around AI in market research assumes conditions that do not consistently exist across many African markets, writes Soyinka Witness.