How to Sell Now: Social and AI

It’s been almost a decade since Instagram first trialed shoppable posts in November 2016, calling on 20 US retailers, including Kate Spade and Warby Parker, to pilot its Shop Now feature. In China, WeChat Pay has enabled in-app shopping since 2013. Meanwhile, TikTok Shop, which launched in the UK in 2021 and the US in 2023, recorded its biggest-ever sales day during Black Friday last year, racking up $500 million in the US alone over a four-day period.

In the years that followed, social media platforms evolved into powerful sources of entertainment, education, and discovery for luxury consumers. Now, at TikTok, head of luxury and auto brand Kristina Karassoulis says the platform is shifting from a pure discovery tool to an “evaluation engine for luxury”. “We’ve seen a huge rise in search-driven discovery on TikTok,” Karassoulis says, “meaning consumers are actively searching for reviews, styling videos, and comparisons, and they’re asking creators, ‘is it worth it?’ on TikTok before they purchase.”

While the power of positive product reviews can push consumers to make the final purchase, this isn’t always the case for luxury. Most brands’ digital marketing teams are tasked with developing a social commerce strategy that moves shoppers from discovery (awareness) to inspiration (consideration) and finally conversion (purchase). But this conventional funnel is difficult to apply to high-ticket purchases, which consumers often prefer to complete in-store.

To work for luxury brands, social platforms should enable the discovery and consideration of purchases before pushing consumers to stores or direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites to close the loop. This requires a rethink for marketers who rely on an all-in-one purchasing journey, hosted by a singular platform, with conversion metrics increasingly dispersed across channels.

For more impulse-driven purchases, however, social platforms remain well-positioned. Of the 3,103 global luxury consumers surveyed by Vogue Business, a third (33%) are intentional in their purchases, carefully planning their buys around special occasions and needs, while 39% will make a purchase immediately if something catches their eye. This spontaneity increases in line with average spend on luxury, suggesting that the higher the shopper’s net worth, the more impulsive their shopping habits are.

Still, relevance is key. Sara Pollack, VP and global head of consumer marketing at Pinterest, says marketers need to understand the moments that trigger shoppers to search. “Luxury-leaning ‘Pinners’ turn to Pinterest to plan what to wear for weddings, graduations, and summer travel, treating these as ‘photo production’ moments where outfits, accessories, and jewelry are carefully curated to read on camera and across multiple events,” she says. “Every save on a [Pinterest] board is an intent signal, and products saved on Pinterest are twice as likely to be purchased.”