Glossary
Social commerce
Social commerce is the buying and selling of products that begins inside a social experience — a feed, a video, a story or a chat — rather than in a search-driven product catalogue.
Last updated 29 September 2026
The definition
Social commerce is retail that happens where people already spend attention. The product is discovered while scrolling, watching or chatting, and the decision to buy is made in that same context. E-commerce traditionally works the other way around: the buyer arrives with an intention and searches for it.
The practical difference is who creates the demand. In a catalogue, the buyer brings the need and the platform satisfies it. In social commerce, the content creates the interest, which is why video, personality and social proof matter so much more than filters and category pages.
How it works in Nigeria
Nigerian social commerce is conversational by default. A seller posts a product to an audience, a buyer replies, and the deal is negotiated in a direct message. Almost all of it runs on the same three tools: a social app for discovery, a chat app for the conversation, and a bank transfer for the money.
That combination works right up to the payment, and then it stops working. The chat app does not know which product is being discussed, the transfer has no protection for either side, and the price that was agreed exists only in two people's memory of the conversation.
- Discovery is solved: sellers have audiences and buyers have attention.
- Negotiation is unrecorded: the agreed price lives in the chat history, at best.
- Payment is unprotected: one side always has to go first.
- Fulfilment is unverifiable: disputes have no shared evidence trail.
Why the model matters commercially
The strength of social commerce is conversion. Buying something you were just shown, from a person you have some connection to, converts far better than a cold product search. Its weakness is trust infrastructure, because the same intimacy that makes the sale easy makes the payment feel informal.
That is the gap ChatCart is built for: keep the discovery and the conversation, and attach a recorded price and an escrow payment to them so the informal part stays casual and the money part does not.
Frequently asked questions
What is social commerce in simple terms?
Buying and selling that happens inside a social experience — a video feed, a story or a chat — instead of through a search box on a product catalogue.
Is social commerce the same as e-commerce?
No. E-commerce usually begins with a buyer who already knows what they want and searches for it. Social commerce begins with content that creates the interest, and the buying decision happens in the same place as the discovery.
Is selling on WhatsApp social commerce?
The selling usually is, but the discovery almost always happens somewhere else. WhatsApp is typically the middle of the funnel, which is precisely why the product context and the payment get lost there.