Buying into the Browsing Economy

The line between social media and e-commerce has blurred - but even though shopping has now become increasingly intertwined in social media platforms, we can’t forget that Americans still spend hours a day browsing brand websites, in addition to all of those hours scrolling social media. This has resulted in making online shopping more fragmented than ever - across shopping apps, brand websites, devices and now even social media.

Before we get into why this distinction is critical for understanding consumer behavior habits and where Locker fits in, it's important we align on a few key differences in user behavior across these different platforms:

Browsing is when you survey goods for sale in a leisurely and casual way - people can browse a retail store, a catalogue, and of course, browse brand websites online. Historically, online browsing has been an individual, isolated activity. And in the age of new technology, consumers browse across numerous devices and thousands of brand websites making their browsing sessions feel even more disconnected.

Scrolling, or passive scrolling, is when you click and scroll across social platforms for a sense of belonging, entertainment or education. People can scroll Spotify for podcast episodes, scroll TikTok to watch entertaining videos, and scroll Instagram to stay up to date on friends' lives. Scrolling has been an individual activity that promotes social connectedness through people sharing content from their day to day lives. But now, much of that day to day content is the sharing of products.

Social media platforms that have prioritized commerce, like TikTok Shop, Instagram Shopping (2.0 coming soon with Meta x Amazon announcement, and now Snap x Amazon) and even Pinterest, first built a user base through social connectedness and entertainment. These platforms then later introduced commerce powered by discovery and entertainment.

These social platforms are now pushing products and the narrative that Gen Z does all of their product discovery on social media and will buy whatever creators and their peers tell them to. But if you've read the comments on any viral TikTok Shop video, you'll see that not all users are onboard with the new algorithm filled with “eligible for commission” labels.

While TikTok Shop has already helped thousands of small businesses and big creators drive revenue and has proven to be a force to be reckoned with, social commerce comes with its own limitations around the true consumer journey and consumer trust.

Gen Z does spend a monumental amount of time scrolling on social media and inadvertently discovering products, however, it isn't their only method of discovery. But rather, an additional avenue of exploration.

Admittedly, there are a few shiny objects when it comes to this new generation of social commerce, like in-app checkout within social platforms and cash grab for signup bonus and crazy product discounts (example: Flip's recent $$$ referral giveaways). The only caveat to these shiny objects is Gen Z is well aware of when they are being sold to and become extra discerning on these apps.

Brands and analysts are thinking about the modern consumer journey with a narrow lens while trying to get ahead of the next big consumer trend. But the reality is that consumer journeys are no longer linear - browsing brand websites still plays a large role in the discovery to purchase journey and impulse purchases are only one piece of a consumer’s story.

Browsing brand websites still plays a large role in the discovery to purchase journey and impulse purchases are only one piece of a consumer’s story.

Given the consumer’s non-linear journeys, organizing discovered products from browsing and now scrolling, is fragmented, overwhelming and leads to a lot of forgetfulness.

Women drive 85% of all consumer purchasing - and they do this across dozens of websites on their phones, iPads, computers, work computers, and yes even on social media now. The hype of commerce integrating with social media is just one new step in their consumer journey. But it doesn't eliminate the near infinite browsing they enjoy on brand websites like Anthropologie, Revolve, and Nordstrom - and it also won't replace their purely social scrolling.

The fragmentation in the consumer journey is why Locker was built - to disrupt the consumer's disorganized browsing experience and make it an interconnected, more enjoyable experience for utility, organization and discovery at every point of the consumer's journey.

Locker is the single source of truth for the modern consumer who bounces between scrolling and browsing and who is exposed to thousands of enticing products each and every day.

It's a concept so simple yet has been overlooked for years. Our founder Kristine Locker , an avid online shopper realized; 'why aren’t we helping consumers connect their wants from different points of inspiration in one place, and in turn, help consumers connect with each other while on their own purchase journeys?'

Why aren’t we helping consumers connect their wants from different points of inspiration in one place, and in turn, help consumers connect with each other while on their own purchase journeys?

Locker is crowd-sourced discovery - allowing the everyday shopper to aggregate their disparate product wants into one place, instead of losing them to multiple abandoned carts, screenshots, and open tabs across devices. It really is quite simple - yet no company has sought to bring together consumer's browsing habits without also getting caught up in trying to change their spending or social habits all together.

We've seen dozens of platforms fail due to super app syndrome - introducing video, live shopping, in-app checkout, and more, when the average consumer desires something much simpler - a way to discover, keep track of products they've also discovered on other platforms, then buy when they're ready.

When asked about our competition, thoughts on social commerce, or even thoughts on traditional influencer affiliate platforms - it all comes back to our North Star: the modern consumer simply wants to streamline their consumer journey so they can make purchases they're excited about.

When you give consumers the time and space to put in it and make purchase decisions on their own without losing track - you give them the power to make confident purchases.

The average cart abandonment rate for mobile e-commerce is around 85.65%. When you promote products through social media and push consumers to buy, the majority aren’t able to follow through in that moment (or ever). For the smaller percentage that are successfully pressured to purchase, it leads to regretted purchases - with e-commerce return rates as high as 30%.

When you think about a consumer discovering a product on social media (on their phone), they get curious to see the product and click the influencer's link to visit the brand website - 8.5 times out of 10 they aren’t going through with a purchase in that exact moment (or even after) because they just weren’t in the mindset to make a purchase on the spot.

Recently the Wall Street Journal wrote how TikTok Shop’s launch makes social commerce in the US plausible if they can improve the commerce experience, making impulse buying easy, they are capable of closing the social commerce loop from discovery to purchase.

We welcome it to be the leading source and destination for impulsive purchases and cheap thrills, but the modern consumer is more nuanced than just a social commerce shopper and requires more than just the orange TikTok Shop commissionable link.

One of our users Bailee Dukes told us this at our most recent community walk in NYC: “It's a very creative platform and I feel like there's no pressure to buy, which I really like because it's made me really mindful about my purchases, because I'll go save it and then I'll look and think, 'Am I ready for this? Do I still really want this?' which goes hand-in-hand with sustainability and circularity and helping people be mindful of what it is they're consuming.”

Don’t get us wrong, we want our community to be making purchases from the products they saved on Locker, but we encourage mindful consumption. As a result, Locker drives high purchase volume and high AOV.

Our community has gone from using Locker for individual, personal utility, to building it into their social discovery.

Our community has gone from using Locker for individual, personal utility, to building it into their social discovery. Locker users spend an average 30 minutes each day scrolling the curated discover feed to find new products and brands - it is peer-driven curation, and it's the best way to browse before buying.

“I spend an embarrassing amount of time scrolling the Locker discover feed and have found so many new brands I've never heard of before because other people had saved it first… it's addicting,” says Locker Shopping Club member Katie Smith.

When Katie said this, we realized we had found true PMF - browsing had finally become social, and therefore we can also call it “scrolling”. And no, there aren’t any captivating videos or UGC, just good old fashioned online shopping made curated and connected through collections and collages made by real people.

As we continue to implement features and improvements that enable search that feels social and highly personalized, we welcome conversation with brand partners who need to find better ways to get in front of their current consumers, while also reaching new, in-market consumers. There's no better, brand-first way to do this than via Locker. If you want to learn more about partnering with Locker, send us an email at partnerships@wantlocker.com!

- Mary Grace Scully , Director of Growth and avid browser

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