Content and commerce, the inseparable duo

The idea of content and commerce was first hatched by Natalie Massenet two decades ago when she started luxury e-commerce site Net-a-Porter, which is known as the pioneer of editorial e-commerce. Despite the rocky start, Net-a-Porter managed to create a paradigm shift in the online retail industry.

Adopting the concept of a magazine in a website format, consumers are able to directly purchase products they are reading about. It was a novel and exceptional breakthrough back in those days. Fast forward to 2014, Net-a-Porter turned the tide and launched a print magazine, Porter. The move was surprising considering the decline of print publications.

According to Lucy Yeomans, former editor-in-chief of Porter, loyal customers of Net-a-Porter continue to read print magazines despite the shift to digital. The magazine comes with digital features that allow readers to scan products on the magazine and they will be directed to Net-a-Porter website.

With styling and photoshoot, editorial content holds the power to influence readers’ purchase decisions. Sarah Graciella, a digital strategist from digital media agency Upnormals Pingfans, said that a lot of brands that she has handled so far have been able to translate content into purchase.

“Generally, people want to buy from a brand that they’re familiar with. Hence, if your content is capable of demonstrating who you are as a brand, and why your product is exceptional despite having a lot of competitors in the market, then you’ll win the hearts of the potential customers. This will translate into more purchases, hence could be called a successful content-commerce integration,” said Sarah.

As reported by Cloudways, according to SaleHoo, about 84% of customers search for product reviews on social media before making a purchase and 46% of them make their purchase decision based on the reviews. This proved that content related to the product can be the driving force behind consumers’ purchase decisions.

Content provides engagement; it creates trust; and it even has the capability to improve brands’ search engine optimisation. The more relevant the content is, the more engagement you will receive. More engagement means more data that could be harvested. From there, you could analyse your consumers’ behaviour and demands more easily - another perk that could make your business grow.

Several Indonesian companies, such as Sociolla, Tinkerlust and Cottonink, have tried incorporating content into commerce. Sociolla, for example, launched beauty journal, a platform to educate customers about beauty products. This idea emerged as during its launch in March 2015, Sociolla owners noticed that in Indonesia, people tend to have a very low awareness of beauty, let alone beauty products.

The beauty journal provides information about products sold at Sociolla as well as reviews and tips on how to choose products that best fit each customer. Customer reviews are considered an effective marketing strategy to help brands gain customer trust.

Sociolla also launched a platform called SOCO to integrate its e-commerce and beauty journal. In the beauty ecosystem, Sociolla successfully creates a community among its customers. Sense of community will translate to a sense of belonging, which will maintain existing customers and make them the brands’ loyalists.

In Tinkerlust’s case, the co-founders since 2015 have already contemplated the importance of content to help them grow the business. Tinkerlust co-founder Samira Shihab said, “In digital platforms the 3Cs - content, commerce and community go very well together which pretty much validates previous explanation.”

For Tinkerlust, commerce refers to their website, while content refers to blog and social media. As for the community, the platform relies mainly on the influencers it collaborates with. The content aspect is a bridge towards the commerce aspect.

“The blog or influencers’ posts will redirect customers into our inventory. Thus, our content is sort of another aspect of our communication with our customers, rather than continuously hard-selling,” said Samira.

Other than journals and blogs, there are different types of content brands utilise - Cottonink with its 247 Cottonink Magazine and financial tech company Bibit with its weekly newsletter.

The shift happens the other way around as well. Media companies tap into commerce either through launching their own features or tools that support commerce or building traditional e-commerce. An example for the latter is fashion e-commerce Sonderlab, the brainchild of social media-based company USSFeed launched in 2020.

Instagram in May 2020 decided to launch Instagram Shop to keep online businesses going despite the pandemic. TikTok is reportedly testing an in-app shopping experience. In addition, Twitter launched a pilot to test an e-commerce functionality, the Shop Module widget, that lets users shop from profiles.

Media could turn into commerce by utilising the so-called affiliate link. As reported by Digiday, some media outlets and newspaper-focused publishers see an opening into earning affiliate-based commerce revenue, but it is still very much a secondary source of revenue.

Buzzfeed is perhaps one of the most successful media turning to commerce through affiliate links. In order to drive sales, Buzzfeed's team of content producers create light, fun and share-able content across its platform. Affiliate links to the products are inserted in the content. Buzzfeed will receive commissions from readers or viewers who click on the link and purchase anything from the website. The strategy paid off as Buzzfeed is slated to go public at an estimated valuation of $1.5 billion.

Recipe for success

Regularly producing content is not an easy feat. Sarah shared some tips about what kind of content that the audience desires the most. Based on her experience, content that is based on storytelling marketing is the most effective. People would like to venture into the brands’ values, mission and the story behind them.

According to Sarah, people also look for content that enables them to give direct feedback or even participate in the brainstorming process of a product. This can be done through social media. For instance, posting polls and question boxes on Instagram stories.

The now-defunct financial planner Jouska is the prime example of the aforementioned concept. Jouska used its clients as case studies for its social media posts while providing financial planning advice to its audience. At its peak, more than 50% of its followers reportedly participated in its storytelling content on Instagram stories.

Content comparing similar products packed in a form of user reviews are highly favoured as well. This kind of storytelling content enables customers to look beyond the surface level. Moreover, interactive and informative content are effective in pushing sales.

Another noteworthy strategy is using human connection to sell. Chinese e-commerce companies have been experiencing explosive growth with live shopping. In order to ramp up sales, some live shopping sessions feature top influencers to sell highly curated products.

Influencers are part of the new wave of media. Social media enables individuals to speak their mind and become solo content creators. Influencers, in a nutshell, are like salespeople but with content and lifestyle people aspire to.

Cited from Harvard Business Review, “When customers experience an interaction with a business, they want to feel as if their interaction was the result of human agency rather than some abstract automation. Sensing human intention at the root of the interaction is critical because people tend to equate intentionality with purpose and meaning.”