Instagram is powering impulse luxury purchases, Snapchat launches commerce (for influencers), IKEA rolls out robot furniture, PLUS: Stitch Fix earnings are in, and the outcome might surprise you. Listen now!

Snapchat seems to either be making a comeback, or they're just really good at getting people to buy things.

Is social commerce the future of shopping?

Could social shopping be a new form of clientelling?

In the first story of the week, Snapchat seems to be making some real power moves, including opening a pilot of in-app shopping of influencer brands, which is super exciting, and kind of on-trend for commerce right now.

Brian questions whether Snapchat is making a comeback or if they're just really good at getting people to buy things.

Phillip lays out some Snapchat facts: Snapchat has increased its global user base by 4 million in Q4, upping their daily user base to 190M.

According to Business Insider: "The Android app produced a 6% increase in the number of users sending Snaps within the first week of upgrading, per Snap's earnings report".

Could it be that Snapchat is growing in overseas use?

So it's not just Snapchat that is doing in-app commerce: both Instagram and Pinterest have introduced similar programs.

Pinterest introduced social-shopping in their application in March, making it easier for brands to showcase their products on Pinterest boards.

And Instagram got significant headlines when they introduced a pilot program for in-app shopping, for select brands.

And here's the thing about Pinterest, they just brought on Jeremy King former CTO of Walmart, which means they're probably going to be stepping up their game big time.

Phillip's prediction for 2020: Amazon and its big-tech cohorts are going to have to form partnerships to take part in social commerce. The reasoning behind this is that many of these companies are browse-and-buy first, audience second.

So, with social commerce being the huge trend there is, Phillip points out that Facebook marketplace is a massive example of this.

And the Facebook marketplace is essential, social shopping, and with local retailers putting up inventory on the platform, it can bring local-commerce global.

Brian says that the Facebook marketplace can make clientelling easier because it's easier to service your clients one-on-one.

So in another story for this week: Cheddar has a video out in which Allison Chiaramonte, an agent at Warburg Realty explains how real-estate agents are turning into influencers and using Instagram to get their listings in front of more people.

Could this kind of trend turn real estate into a luxury impulse purchase?

Phillip references back to episode 105 ("Deliciously Sinful" - Brand Sustainability in the Age of Impulse Luxury), where Ingrid Millman talked about how luxury impulse purchases have become much more comfortable in the age of online.

Phillip and Brian forecast a horrifying black mirror-esque future in which creditworthiness is determined by social media status.

Ikea is rolling out a new line of robot furniture, which will make it easier for people living in small apartments to use their space effectively.

This would probably appeal to many people who are living in limited space in big cities with rising costs in both rents and purchasing price.

Brian says that this kind of product release brings to mind the tiny home kits being sold on Amazon.

Speaking of real-estate: Blackstone seems to have gone on a pretty expensive shopping spree, they picked up $18 billion in warehouse space, betting big on e-commerce.

Could the Ikea robot furniture be helpful in constrained retail spaces as well, transforming space, making it easier for temporary retail spaces to exist?

Brian was at Future Stores Seattle last week: and there was plenty of exciting content to be experienced.

The most significant trend at the show focused on the retail associate; there was even an entire track dedicated to the topic.

Several of the main stage talks were also dedicated to discussing the role of the retail associate, which is positive.

Almost half of the booths in the innovation lab were focused on training, enablement, clientelling, and efficiency for store associates.

Brian says that the future of retail is empowering retail store associates to be able to do more, have better relationships with customers, and be true ambassadors or the brands they work for.

Quoting Brian's opening remarks from NRF Tech: "Technology should be all about the client relationship, that's what it's for, and when you're doing technology for technology sake, you're not doing what retailers should be doing."

So, do you utilize in-app shopping features on Instagram or Snapchat for your brand, or as a consumer?

Let us know in the content section on Futurecommerce.fm, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin.

Retail Tech is moving fast, and Future Commerce is moving faster.