Why the next era of social commerce relies on infrastructure, not influencers
For years, social commerce was treated as a channel strategy — something marketers tested in isolated campaigns or handed over to influencer teams. That mindset, however, is changing quickly.
Amid rising acquisition costs, growing brand safety concerns and volatile platform policies, CMOs are rethinking what’s required to scale social commerce. They’ve learned that it takes more than a strong TikTok strategy — true scale needs infrastructure.
“The era of social as a siloed tactic is over,” said Jen Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at commercetools. “Today’s most forward-looking brands are treating it as an always-on part of unified commerce — one that needs to connect discovery to checkout without friction and without rebuilding the stack every time the algorithm changes.”
Expanding beyond TikTok
According to Modern Retail’s CMO Strategies report, marketers are diversifying beyond the big platforms. Pinterest, Reddit and Snapchat all saw increased usage in 2024 as advertisers pulled back from TikTok and X, citing brand safety concerns and inconsistent performance.
But the shift is likely not just reactive. Social platforms are launching new commerce-related products and initiatives. Pinterest, for example, is positioning itself as a commerce-ready online oasis. Reddit is leaning into its billion-plus monthly search queries to power intent-based advertising. Snapchat is doubling down on new ad formats and incentives to make social shopping more scalable.
“We’re watching the social platform landscape get more fragmented but also more interesting,” Jones said. “The brands that will win aren’t just those posting on every channel. They’re the ones who’ve built a system that can evolve with the platforms themselves.”
Impressions are up — and so is the pressure to perform
As social platforms become more commerce-enabled, marketers are recalibrating how they measure success. In 2024, impressions surged as a key KPI on Pinterest, Snapchat and Reddit, while engagement declined on legacy platforms like X. The signal is clear: Brands are prioritizing reach, as long as it drives conversion.
Infrastructure now plays a critical role in enabling that conversion. Brands can’t afford links that don’t render on mobile, carts that fail to carry over or platforms that connect to only one payment service provider.
“If your tech stack can’t handle an unexpected traffic spike or a new payment flow, it’s not just an ops issue — it’s a missed opportunity,” said Jones. “Social commerce today is about reducing the distance between discovery and transaction without making the customer start over.”
Transitioning from test-and-learn to test-and-build
Often, social commerce experimentation is driven by small budgets and quick tests, however, some brands are going further by allocating permanent budget lines to infrastructure that supports measurable, social-led discovery across channels, devices and formats.
That includes creator content systems, modular checkout experiences and headless or composable platforms that allow marketers to adapt without replatforming.
“Commerce doesn’t just happen on dot-com anymore,” said Jones. “It happens on a livestream, a Pinterest board and a 10-second Snap ad. So the foundation needs to be flexible — not just for what’s working now, but for what you can’t yet predict.”
The future of social commerce isn’t about finding the perfect channel or influencer. Taking the next step means building infrastructure that keeps up with consumer behavior, wherever it happens next.
“In 2025, social commerce is less about chasing virality and more about operational readiness,” said Jones. “The brands that win will be the ones that treat flexibility as a strategy and invest accordingly.”
Sponsored by commercetools