Social commerce research that shows which content turns into sales.

Social commerce research is the study of how shoppers discover and buy products through social platforms, from creator posts and live shopping streams to in-app shops. Social commerce, also called social media commerce or social e-commerce, is selling inside social platforms, so the research goes beyond views and follower counts to show whether that activity changes what shoppers buy. Nextyn builds each study from interviews and surveys with the category's shoppers, and the retail and CPG practice has researched shoppers in 85+ countries.

A Nextyn social commerce study delivers three outputs: creator influence findings by shopper group, the path from social discovery to purchase, and investment priorities across social formats. Each output comes from primary research with the category's shoppers, not from platform dashboards or listening tools:

• Creator influence: which creator content changes brand choice, and for whom
• Discovery to purchase: where shoppers buy after finding a product on social, on the platform, online or in store
• Investment priorities: which formats to fund, hold or cut, from creator posts to live shopping

Nextyn interviews four groups for social commerce research: shoppers who buy through social platforms, shoppers who discover products on social but buy elsewhere, shoppers who do neither, and creators and platform specialists. Each study matches the sample to the category, platforms and markets in scope:

• Social buyers, who show what makes them purchase in the app
• Social browsers, who show where the sale really happens
• Non-users in the category, who show the limits of social reach
• Creators and platform specialists, who explain how formats and algorithms shape discovery

Nextyn runs social commerce research in the United States and Canada, among other markets, and the retail and CPG practice has researched shoppers in 85+ countries and 50+ languages. Markets are agreed at scoping, since social shopping habits, platforms and live formats differ by country and shopper group. A multi-market study asks the same questions in each country, so the role of social compares like for like.

Nextyn recommends social commerce research before creator or live shopping budgets are renewed, before launching a brand shop on a social platform, or when social reach is rising but sales are not. At those points the research shows whether social activity changes what shoppers buy, so spend follows purchase rather than likes. Nextyn sends a research plan within 48 hours of the brief.

A Nextyn social commerce research project runs in four steps, from brief to read-out, and nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan. The client sees the sample, method and price before any fieldwork, and reads every interview with the Nextyn team at the end.

1. Submit the brief: the category, the platforms and the budget decision the research must settle.
2. Receive a plan within 48 hours: who Nextyn will interview, how, and what the work costs.
3. Approve the plan: fieldwork starts only after sign-off.
4. Review the read-out: every interview read together, showing where social buyers, browsers and creators agree, where they conflict and what is still open.

Nextyn sends a social commerce research plan within 48 hours of receiving the brief, stating who will be interviewed, how, and what the work costs. The plan sets the fieldwork length for the platforms, markets and shopper groups in scope, so a one-platform study and a multi-market comparison each get their own timeline. Nothing is commissioned until the client approves the plan.

Nextyn's social commerce research asks the category's shoppers what made them buy, and where, while platform analytics count views, clicks and sales inside one app. Analytics show what happened on the platform, and the research shows whether social content changed the purchase anywhere, including in store.