Social media companies are droolingly eager to become ecommerce platforms. Meta-owned Instagram just removed one more bit of friction by making it possible to purchase through its chat function. Payments go through the company’s Meta Pay service, which captures so much delicious data and will eventually let Meta charge a commission.
With the acquisition of Mexican company, Urbvan, Swvl increases its presence and boosts its growth in Latin America. The Nasdaq-listed transportation startup acquired Urbvan for US$82 million and this expands its presence to 164 cities in 22 countries and boosts its growth in Latin America, where it already has a presence in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
Reality check: social commerce is more appealing to companies than users. SimplicityDX reports that 48% of consumers consider social media a great place to learn about products, but 71% prefer to make their purchases directly on a brand site. One big reason is 53% don’t trust social networks with their personal data. Buying on social also raises concerns about accurate in-stock information, customer service, and returns.
Databricks is highlighting its interest in marketers through out-of-the-box integrations with partners including Adobe, Braze, Salesforce, MessageGears, and Tealium. All will be able to run campaigns using information in the Databricks data intelligence platform without data syncing or copying.