Driven by Gen Z and millennials, social commerce is predicted to grow three times faster than traditional eCommerce, to a projected $1.2 trillion by 2025.

This is no surprise to experts. The viral hashtag and phenomenon #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has 28.6 billion views, including ads, influencer content and reviews. This engagement has skyrocketed brands like CeraVe, The Pink Stuff, and e.l.f. Cosmetics and created complete sellouts of items like the Revlon one-step hair dryer and the Lululemon belt bag.

Brands have scrambled to get in front of new social platforms like BeReal, “a photo-sharing app that allows users to post one photo per day to show their followers what they are doing in real-time,” primarily used by Gen Z. For example, Chipotle has experimented by sharing coupon codes, and e.l.f. Cosmetics used BeReal to show their offices’ “inside” look.

In short, social commerce is no longer a suggestion but a critical element of ...