33 Statistics that Show Why You Should be Selling on Social

Social commerce is the process in which consumers make purchases directly within social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Over the years as social platforms have grown in popularity as the demand for users to be able to discover brands and products, and buy these products within the apps. This demand is due to the ease it provides to consumers as they can shop whenever and wherever they are from their mobile devices.

This increase in demand from consumers has meant social platforms are regularly releasing updates and features to ease the shopping process. These features don’t just benefit the consumers though, they also make it easier for brands to showcase their products and services and achieve conversions once they grab their audience’s attention as they scroll. Despite all that, social commerce has yet to reach the stratospheric heights marketing experts had predicted, there’s no doubting its power it’s just the pace of it that hasn’t quite kept up with predictions.

Here at Embryo, we’re watching the rise of social commerce closely and are interested in the frictionless approach to purchasing that it offers consumers and brands. To highlight the persistent, gradual rise in social commerce, we’ve collated 33 notable stats that show just how big of a presence this marketing channel is becoming.

The Power of Social Commerce, in 33 Stats

If you’re still unsure as to whether your business should be investing time into social commerce, here are 33 stats to convince you.

1. Facebook has found that 54% of people have made a purchase either in the moment or after seeing a product or service on Instagram.
2. 445 million people use Pinterest every month to find ideas and inspire their next purchase
3. Shoppers on Pinterest spend 40% more than on other platforms.
4. #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has been used 7 billion times, on posts where users share what they have purchased based on recommendations they saw on the platform.
5. SproutSocial found that 98% of consumers planned at least one purchase through social media in 2022.
6. The Sprout Pulse survey shared in Q1 of 2023 also found that 47% of consumers plan to use shopping features within the different social platforms.
7. In 2022, Hubspot found 22% of consumers prefer to use social media to discover new products.
8. 24.2% of the UK population are predicted to be social buyers, in that they have made at least one purchase via any social channel.
9. In the US, YouTube is the most trusted platform for product research and purchases.
10. 52% of businesses plan to sell through social media in 2023. 
11. Thailand, India and China (85%, 80% and 77%) have the highest percentage of consumers who intended to shop through social in 2022.
12. In 2023, the social commerce market is expected to hit $1.3 trillion
13. 76% of Twitter users are more likely to recommend a brand after friendly interactions between them and a brand on the platform.
14. 72% of Instagram users say they’ve made purchase decisions based on something they saw on the platform.
15. 130 million Instagram users click on shopping posts each month.
16. Over 250 million Snapchat users have engaged with its Shopping lens feature more than 5 million times.
17. TikTok has overtaken Instagram and Facebook as the UK’s most-shopped social media platforms.
18. On average, a TikTok user makes 10 purchases a year from the platform.
19. Meltwater found that in Jan 2023, 15.2% of users aged 16 to 64 were using social media to find products to purchase. Whilst 16% were using the platforms to find content from brands.
20. 75% of global businesses believe interacting with customers in the Metaverse will become common.
21. 33.4% of social media shoppers rarely use Twitter to buy products.
22. A 2022 study found that cart abandonment rates were 84% on mobile as opposed to 72% on desktop.
23. Despite the growing popularity of social commerce, brick-and-mortar stores will still sell 20% more than online platforms.
24.  500 million online consumers who use social commerce, cited Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter as their preferred sites for making a purchase.
25. Just less than half (49%) of social media users listen to influencers when making a purchase.
26.  By 2025 clothing will amount to the largest share of social commerce purchases.
27. 68% of YouTube users watched a video on the platform to help them decide to purchase.
28. 59% of shoppers said being able to purchase on mobile is important when deciding who to purchase from.
29. In 2021 the number of people who purchased from a live stream event increased by 76% globally.
30. 43% of Gen Z users are looking to purchase based on trending topics on social media.
31. 61% of users shop when stumbling across something in social feeds or from social stories.
32.  42% strongly agree they prefer to check out on a social media platform rather than a third-party website.
33. 34% strongly agree that they prefer to shop on social platforms as it’s easier and quicker than traditional e-commerce.

Tap Into Social Commerce With Embryo

As you can see, social commerce is certainly here to say, even if its rise has slowed somewhat. If you want to know more about how you can incorporate social media into your digital strategy, then get in touch with our award-winning team to learn more.