If you haven’t purchased a product after seeing it on social media, you’re in the minority. Despite the drama surrounding TikTok bans and looming tariffs, 56 percent of all social media users anticipate maintaining their current level of social purchases in 2025. And 32 percent of users actually expect to buy more on social media this year.
Live shopping events are growing faster than affiliate marketing on social media. This dovetails with consumers’ propensity to connect with store associates via staff-generated content––customers who shop on social media want more real, more product-focus, and more niche expertise-sharing content than ever before. It’s this type of relatable, fun, day-in-the-life-of narrative that can drive physical traffic in 2025.
Retailers get it and are highly aware of the revenue opportunity in social selling: Deloitte found that 80 percent of retail executives foresee increased social commerce in 2025. Physical retail stores still generate more revenue than sales made on social media, yet neither is a category that retailers can afford to ignore.
What is the relationship between a retailer’s social media presence and their physical store sales? How can retailers adjust that relationship to boost their bottom line? Let’s take a look at three strategies that can help retailers generate real traffic and loyal customers through both channels.
Live Shopping Events Drive Consumers to Stores
Here’s the deal: Live shopping events are a growing focus for retailers as an alternative to affiliate marketing. You can’t log onto social media without experiencing affiliate marketing nowadays––powdered Yerba Mate being hawked by suburban moms … fifteen-year-old soccer players selling camera mounts…the list could go on indefinitely. Affiliate marketing has been successful in increasing brand awareness through each respective spokesperson’s/influencer’s following.
However, these individuals are rarely well-versed about the brand itself or even the product they’re posting about. Influencers are often unprepared to provide customer service functions for a brand or retailer––functions like answering product questions, providing customized usage guidance and styling suggestions, or providing backstories on the company itself. Another risk is that brands can become associated with an influencer whom they don’t truly know and cannot control. Remember the Gap & Kanye-esque disaster? Affiliate marketing is also dependent upon external variables like TikTok bans.
Live shopping events bridge the gap between a retailer’s physical stores and their social media presence. Take Sephora’s 2024 Livestream Beauty Masterclasses which brought the makeup expertise of seasoned artists to Sephora’s social media followers. These events helped Sephora achieve 30 percent higher engagement rates than standard video content, while simultaneously driving a 25 percent increase in featured product sales within 48 hours of each event.
Creator Commerce Comes to Brick-and-Mortar
Remember ten years ago when it felt like every successful B-movie actress had her own perfume or home furnishings line? Well, pop culture influencers are producing the next round of products like “Circus by Britney Spears.” The lifecycle of a successful influencer now includes a product line that doesn’t have to be sold exclusively on digital platforms––local personalities and micro influencers are often more than willing to collaborate with retailers to sell their namesake products, whether it be apparel — licensed or woven — books they authored, or “master classes” for which they’re trying to rustle up online traffic. Business Insider covered the phenomenon of influencers attending events in person last year, but most retailers have yet to make the connection in their physical stores. It’s a missed opportunity to drive traffic and nontraditional sales.
Creator commerce is defined by Google as “a type of ecommerce where content creators, influencers, and bloggers directly promote and sell products to their audience, typically through their own platforms or channels.” It is catching on like wildfire. Consider that 71 percent of U.S. consumers purchased a creator-founded product in June 2024, and that number is only rising.
Next gens are doubling down on parasocial relationships. So, creators’ social media followings have become part of the brand or product value proposition. Creators with large followings can often leverage them to secure prime placements on physical retail shelves and in online stores. It’s about the relationship and the product, not the channel.
Staff-Generated Content Personalizes Brands
Want to hear something ironic? Next gens long for transparency from retailers on social media and they want a curated in-person shopping experience. The exact opposite usually occurs: Retailers’ polished, aspirational presences on social media mask transparency and the reality of their in-person stores is a far cry from curated shopping experiences.
Staff generated content is bridging the gap between the transparent and the aspirational. Take Poppi Soda’s TikTok account, that gives visitors a code for 15 percent off their next Poppi purchase. But more notably, there are staff-made videos with relatable themes shot in the office, giving visitors an intimate, quirky look into Poppi culture. This isn’t exclusive to brands, either. By encouraging employees to create videos that showcase the store vibe, its inventory, and employee expertise, retailers can use their digital presence to boost physical traffic.
Remember, live shopping events are growing faster than affiliate marketing on social media in 2025. This dovetails with consumers’ propensity to connect with store associates via staff-generated content––customers who shop on social media want more real, more product-focus, and more niche expertise-sharing content than ever before. It’s this type of relatable, fun, day-in-the-life-of type of narrative that can drive physical traffic in 2025.
The Recap
Bottom line? Social media and sales associates are partners. Store associates, already well-versed in the merchandise, can step in as the brand ambassadors for fit checks, tastings, and product demos on social media. Retail influencers can drive traffic to physical stores, bringing once parasocial relationships into real life and building loyal communities that boost basket sizes. What starts as a swipe can end in a sale for retailers willing to serve up transparency and human connection, at scale.