19 Social Commerce Statistics that Will Surprise You in 2024
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How often have you checked a product on social media before making a purchase?
How often do you make purchases by using social media networks to communicate with local producers?
The answer to both questions is obvious:
Extremely often.
And we’ve got the social commerce statistics to prove it.
Think about it:
We all use social media networks quite frequently nowadays. In fact, the average person spends around 2 hours and 23 minutes daily scrolling down the likes of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. 45% of people on this planet are active on social media users.
What’s more:
The power of social media networks will grow in the future, allowing brands to attract customers by investing in social media marketing.
So, whether you’re a business owner or someone who’s interested in SMM, you should check out the top stats that will help you benefit down the line.
Let’s dive in.
Fascinating Social Commerce Stats (Editor’s Picks)
- About 87% of online shoppers say social media networks affect their purchase decision.
- Users spend most of their time on Facebook (58 minutes) and the least time on Twitter (3 minutes).
- The total number of social media users in 2019 was 3.5 billion. The yearly rise of social media users is 9%.
- One in four business owners sells products or services through Facebook.
- About 40% of businesses are relying on social media networks to generate sales.
- About 55% of Generation Z in the US do more than half of their shopping online, saying their online shopping decisions and purchases have been influenced by social media networks.
- In 2019, 36% of female internet users in the US engaged in social commerce, compared to 22% of men.
- China social commerce sales will account for 14.2% of global sales in 2023.
What Is Social Commerce?
Before digging deep into the statistics, we thought it might be useful to get to know a bit more about social commerce and how you can benefit from it.
Here’s the scoop:
Social commerce is a type of online commerce, which involves social media and social interactions in the process of making a purchase decision. Social media commerce has the purpose of providing the retailer with exposure, ratings, and in the end, the expected sales.
Now:
The term social commerce was introduced first by Yahoo! in 2005. The goal was to encourage users and businesses to get the most out of the collaborative tools such as user ratings, shared pick lists, and other types of user-generated content.
Some of the top features of social commerce include:
- Specialized “buy buttons” within social media pages and posts
- Posts and stories that can influence shoppers to make a buying decision
- CTAs on social media posts that will redirect users to the ecommerce website
- Buying and selling due to friendly advice on social media networks
- Specialized plugins and apps for social commerce
And now, let’s go back to the stats.
Social Commerce Statistics for 2019
1. 70.5% of commerce website referral traffic in 2019 in the US came from smartphones.
(Statista)
A social commerce report for 2019 notes the importance of mobile-friendly ecommerce sites and social media posts. Most of the traffic that websites get is mobile. That’s because people spend an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes on their cell phones every day, cell phone addiction statistics reveal.
As a result:
The traffic that comes from smartphones is up to six times higher than the traffic from desktop and laptop devices. Compared to the 70.5% of traffic that came from smartphones in 2019, only 19.5% of commerce website referral traffic came from desktop computers. The figure for laptops was even lower, at 10%.
Based on these facts, businesses can decide what type of ecommerce social media marketing strategy would be the most beneficial.
2. In 2019, 36% of female internet users in the US engaged in social commerce, compared to 22% of men.
(Hospitality Net)
Women are clearly into social commerce more than men are. Also, the age group that is leading the charge is 18-to-34-year-olds, with 42%. Additionally, 32% of people aged 35 to 54 engage in social commerce, compared to only 15% of those 55 and older.
3. Social commerce stats show that the top social media activity for 2019 was viewing photos.
(Hospitality Net)
Viewing photos is the leading social media activity across all platforms, as it takes the top place for Instagram (77% of all respondents), Facebook (65%), Snapchat (64%), Pinterest (59%), and Twitter (42%).
4. Social commerce statistics reveal most of the concerns of purchases through social media networks have a lot to do with security (71%), privacy (65%), and legitimacy (64%).
(Hospitality Net)
Security, privacy, and legitimacy are the top three concerns of US online shoppers. The reasons for this are the scams and security issues that customers can face online. Given the prevalence of phishing, it refers mostly to giving out personal information, including credit card and banking details.
The other, not so major concerns that social media ecommerce users face, are lack of customer support and assistance, unfamiliarity and difficulty to navigate the website, and being unaware of how to make a purchase.
5. The number of digital buyers in Canada is expected to rise to 30.1 million by 2024.
(Statista)
The Canadian digital population is growing slowly but surely as more Canadians opt to do most of their shopping online. In 2019, the number of Canadians who bought something online reached 25 million. By 2024, it is estimated that this figure will increase to 30.1 million.
Social Commerce Statistics for 2020
6. 70% of online shoppers note that they have discovered a product through Instagram.
(Business2Community)
Social commerce trends show Instagram’s biggest innovation – Instagram Checkout is available for brands such as Kylie Cosmetics and Nike. This is one of the reasons why the Instagram app offers a shopping feel. The Instagram Checkout offers you the chance to buy the exact products you like on your feed.
7. FA total of 86.6% of marketers will use Facebook in 2020, while 73.2% will use Instagram as the main medium for social media marketing.
(eMarketer)
When it comes to social media driving sales, Facebook and Instagram are at the top. The conversions that marketers are getting from these two platforms are key to the great amount of interest and investment in them.
Here’s why:
Twitter isn’t as trendy as Facebook and Instagram, and Snapchat and Pinterest are mostly used by younger females. So, they don’t get the same level of attention as the leading duo.
8. One-third of Americans use social media to find out more about a business or product, social commerce statistics reveal.
(Statista)
The focus of marketers and businesses is user engagement. It’s all about the clicks, likes, comments, and shares. These numbers convert into sales, and that’s why businesses are doing their best to keep their target audience engaged.
Now:
Brands can nurture user engagement by introducing online coupons, discounts, giveaways, and so on. Besides that, they’re getting some extensions for social commerce, such as chatbots and messaging apps, and investing in new opportunities in social commerce.
9. Canadian ecommerce sales will reach $36.5 million in 2024.
(Statista)
Ecommerce has been steadily growing in Canada, with $23.4 million and $28.4 million in 2019 and 2020 respectively. From the current figures, it is estimated to climb to $36.5 million by 2024.
A survey of Canadian retailers from 2014 showed that at least 26% of them were planning to advance their ecommerce strategies. The same survey showed that 57% of retailers found online shopping having a positive impact on overall sales and revenue.
10. Between 2020 to 2024, the global social commerce market size is expected to have a record Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) increase of 31%, social commerce statistics reveal.
(Technavio)
New avenues of growth, such social media advertising, offer significant business opportunities. Post-pandemic, with the adaptation to a contactless lifestyle, the market size is projected to have a massive increase in CAGR. It’s expected to grow by a whopping $2051.49 billion from 2020 to 2024.
Global Social Commerce Statistics
11. According to social commerce market statistics, the social commerce market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 34% by 2021.
(Technavio)
Because of the rise of social media ads, it’s expected that the market will grow correspondingly. By 2021, there will be a whopping rise of 34%, thanks primarily to the popularity of social media and its usage by companies to get to their target audience.
The customer base is growing mostly through Facebook and Instagram, due to the circulation of the content between the users.
12. Pinterest is the most popular social commerce site, with a boost of 30% in sales right after releasing buying pins for sale.
(Visenze)
The top social commerce companies are Pinterest, Shopee, Soldsie, Lyst, Kickstarter, among others.
For instance, Lyst is using user-curated content as well as user recommendations as one of the ways customers using social commerce benefit from.
Additionally, social commerce companies such as Shopee help brands establish a loyal audience and grow organically. Through the ability the audience has to promote and review products, Shopee attracts both companies and customers.
This approach will eventually lower the percentage of users who mostly change their minds when making a shopping decision after visiting social media networks, which currently stands at 71%.
13. China social commerce sales will account for 14.2% of global sales in 2023.
(eMarketer)
Social commerce has been developing rapidly in China with apps like WeChat, leading the way in contactless mobile payment technology. Social commerce income statistics in China reveals that an estimated $315.5 billion is expected from social commerce sales in 2021 (13% of the world total).
The figure is expected to grow to a mind-blowing $474.81 billion (14.2% of the world total) by 2023.
More Social Media Ecommerce Statistics
14. In 2019, businesses made $3.5 trillion in sales from ecommerce.
(Shopify & CMS Connected)
The latest social commerce revenue statistics from Shopify and CMS Connected show that ecommerce sales will hit a mind-blowing $4.9 trillion in 2021. 10% of the overall retail industry profits in the US are within the ecommerce sector.
Check this out:
On 2017 Black Friday in the US, ecommerce sales reached $5 billion.
15. About 80% of online shoppers would like to get their orders the same day.
(Digital Commerce 360)
Did you know that just 53% of retailers offer the option of same-day delivery? That’s a big omission since customers are pretty impatient when it comes to waiting to receive their online shopping package.
As social commerce use statistics show, around 61% of shoppers would like to get their order within one to three hours after ordering. So, ecommerce sellers have to adapt to the increasing expectations of their customers in order to keep up with the competition.
16. 35% of people say they would be shopping online more if they could try out a product virtually.
(Big Commerce)
Up to 22% of shoppers wouldn’t leave the comfort of their home if their ecommerce store has augmented reality available. Through AR, customers wouldn’t just see how something looks in 3D. The technology also enables them to actually try it out and see how it will look on them.
This is huge:
According to the latest social ecommerce statistics, experts expect that AR will become the standard for social media platforms and ecommerce sites.
17. The number of social media users grows by 9% every year, social commerce growth statistics confirm.
(Smart Insights)
As the popularity of social media networks is growing, so are its users. For that purpose, retailers should be ready to meet their customers on the most popular platforms.
In fact, the online shopping industry in America is growing three times faster than its brick-and-mortar counterpart.
What’s more:
About 46% of online shoppers would like to get more product comparisons on ecommerce sites. And because of that they’re turning to social media networks to get them.
18. About 30% of shoppers will quit a website that isn’t optimized for mobile devices.
(Status Labs)
The latest findings and social networks ecommerce statistics suggest that optimizing your online store for mobile devices is the key to success.
Let’s face it:
Four out of five US residents are online shoppers, and half of them make their online shopping through their mobile phones. Click To TweetSo, it boggles the mind that, in this day and age, plenty of the millions and millions of online stores are still not properly optimized for mobile.
19. According to Canadian social commerce statistics from 2021, shoppable images and videos are the most influential in driving sales at 20.8%.
(eMarketer)
Shoppable images and videos are more likely to influence shopper’s purchase decisions. Other influencers include posts from bands (15.5%), followed by video advertising (14.6%), sponsored posts (2.8%), and social media influencers and celebrities (2.5%).
Wrap up
When you take into account the most remarkable social commerce statistics, you can eventually set up a plan for the SMM of your website.
Bottom line:
Don’t underestimate the power of the market that offers you tons of opportunities and chances to make it big online!
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