How social commerce is changing supply chains and consumer behavior

Social commerce is redefining how products move from manufacturer to consumer, merging social media influence with supply chain strategy. As viral trends drive instant demand, companies must balance speed with transparency, ethical sourcing, and sustainability. The businesses investing in responsible growth today will lead tomorrow’s digital marketplace. #SocialCommerce #SupplyChain #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #SustainableBusiness #Warehousing

Social commerce is redefining how products move from manufacturer to consumer, merging social media influence with supply chain strategy. As viral trends drive instant demand, companies must balance speed with transparency, ethical sourcing, and sustainability. The businesses investing in responsible growth today will lead tomorrow’s digital marketplace. #SocialCommerce #SupplyChain #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #SustainableBusiness #Warehousing

Stop optimizing and start strategizing... While many e-commerce brands are still focused on basic CRO, true growth lies in a holistic business ecosystem. This guide moves beyond tactics to cover the 4 hidden pillars of scalable growth: 👍 Reframing e-commerce as a financial ecosystem (CLV : CAC) 👍 Building durable assets (not just campaigns) 👍 Engineering a post-purchase retention engine 👍 Adopting next-gen tech like shoppable video These are the strategic levers that build a long-term competitive advantage. Which pillar is your business prioritizing for 2026? Full blueprint is here: https://lnkd.in/gGj8g6ys #Ecommerce #BusinessStrategy #DigitalCommerce #Leadership #CustomerRetention #ShoppableVideo

M&S just copied the digital grocery experience in-store. Fresh, frozen, and ambient products side by side. Online, when you search "herbs" you see every option instantly. Fresh basil, frozen cubes, dried packets. All compared in seconds. In-store? You've been forced to play grocery Tetris across three departments. Now M&S have organised shelves how customers think, not how supply chains work. For staff, this creates operational nightmares. Three different deliveries, three storage requirements, triple the restocking complexity. But they chose customer convenience over internal efficiency. Online grocery taught us that customers want options clustered by need, not by temperature or supplier convenience. M&S got this. ♻️ Repost this if it resonates 🛎️ Follow Lottie Unwin (she/her) for more marketing leadership ✍ Sign up to my newsletter for deeper insights

Brilliant example of disruption through customer centricity. This is how business needs to think. Your customers do not care in the slightest about your business silos, about any internal reasons why you organise things the way you do. Consumers don't care about the cold chain or supplier agreements about guaranteed shelf space in particular aisles or blah blah - they care about getting herbs to put on the Sunday roast

This is a brilliant example of something I talk about throughout Listen, Act, Change: great customer experience happens when organisations are brave enough to design around how people live, not how their internal structures operate. What M&S have done here isn’t just smart retail design, it’s service design. They’ve taken a digital behaviour (searching “herbs” and seeing every option in one place) and translated it into the physical world. And yes it creates operational complexity. 3 different supply chains. 3 delivery patterns. 3 restocking models. But it removes customer complexity. And that’s the point. Housing faces this exact same dilemma every day. We still design services around internal departments, legacy systems, compliance processes and historic operating models, not around the way tenants actually think, move, search, ask for help or live their lives. If we want to improve complaints, trust, and satisfaction, especially under the new consumer standards, we have to start making the same shift M&S just made: Design for the customer first. Solve for the organisation second. That’s the essence of Listen, Act, Change: putting people at the centre of services, not processes. 📘 Listen, Act, Change is now available on Amazon for anyone leading CX, digital transformation or service redesign in UK housing. Link in comments below ⬇️ #Housing #ServiceDesign #CX #ListenActChange

Looks like M&S are creating their own micro market experience right on the shop floor! The principle is the same: putting convenience at the centre by grouping everything the customer needs in one place. It’s a great reminder of how powerful this approach can be in the workplace too. Imagine having the same experience in your office: fresh, frozen and ambient food and drinks, all easily accessible and designed around your staffs lunchtime needs.

In this morning’s session at the Connected Commerce Summit in Toronto, Manaal Farooqi, MBA, Senior Manager of Consumer Insights and Success at BIC, unpacked how emotion, trust, and experience are reshaping demand in real time. Snipp’s Christopher Cubba and Kyle Floro were on site — here are their three key takeaways (with data): 1. Emotion, not economics, drives consumer behavior Consumer confidence is at a 70-year low (55.1), yet emotion now outweighs economics in shaping purchase intent. ▪️ 70% of consumers expect companies to pass rising costs on to them. ▪️ Optimism fades after age 35, driven by mortgages and the cost of living. McKinsey data shows sentiment alone no longer predicts spending — understanding why people buy is the new advantage. 2. Authenticity outperforms advertising Trust and transparency now beat traditional media. ▪️ 80% say trust drives purchase decisions in uncertain times. ▪️ Behind the scenes, unpolished content outperforms glossy creative. ▪️ Micro and nano-influencers see stronger engagement because followers “feel they know them.” ▪️ The message: Less plastic, more human. Authenticity has become an actual conversion driver. 3. Consumers crave comfort, connection, and experience Even in a tight economy, people still seek joy. Two groups are emerging: ▪️ Value Seekers: tightening their belts and demanding proof of value. ▪️ Experience Seekers: trading possessions for moments that matter. ▪️ Brands must balance price and meaning — pairing deals and storytelling with a sense of belonging. ▪️AR, AI, and personalized storytelling are now table stakes. Nostalgia and small escapes bring comfort in uncertain times. Final thought: In this shifting economy, sentiment is strategy. The brands that will thrive aren’t the cheapest or loudest; they’re the ones that listen, act authentically, and deliver emotional value that outlasts any promotion. My Digital Shelf Sarah Kingham

Momentum Myths: What Actually Moves the Needle in Retail Trade. 1️⃣Traction vs. Spinning Wheels Is your brand really gaining momentum or just making noise? Ask retail buyers the right questions about next steps to getting listed. Without a clear direction, even the strongest superlatives can sound like fluff. 2️⃣Overrated Growth Hacks in CPG What are the overrated growth hacks? Some strategies are less effective than they appear: 💸Big influencer budgets (unless you’re a strong e-com brand). 🎪Pricey store activations. 📲Social media campaigns that don’t convert. 💰Distributor «large fees» with little return. Instead, work with partners who are genuinely invested in your success. For example, government start-up incubators (especially in Europe) often co-fund your participation in trade events and help you build retail connections without draining your budget. Also think about curated buyer-seller meeting events. These are designed for building mutually beneficial retail partnerships. In many cases, your distributor, broker, or agent can present your brand as part of their portfolio, reducing your participation fee. 3️⃣Double Down or Pivot? ✅Double down when: - You’re seeing recurring retail purchases - Stores are expanding your footprint nationwide. 👉That’s the time to bring in investors and scale production + team. 🔁Pivot when: Results plateau or retail traction doesn’t stick. Pivoting # quitting = it’s repositioning, refining your product, and going back to MVP mode to test without burning capital. 💬For my European founders: Have you tapped into your local government incubator programs to get support for trade shows? 💬For everyone else: What’s the most overrated «growth hack» you’ve seen in CPG?

The future of commerce is set to redefine the relationship between inspiration and action. Publishers and brands that prioritize trust will spearhead this evolution, creating dynamic marketplaces that offer a personal, fast, and frictionless experience. Key factors such as customization, search intelligence, and authority will distinguish the leaders in this space. The critical question is not whether this transformation will occur, but rather who will excel in building it.