Social Commerce Statistics: Users, Revenue & More

The global social commerce market has reached unprecedented relevance in the last few years.

In the beginning, brands relied on retail stores in order to generate revenue from sales.

Then, the world advanced to a digital state where online sales took the industry by storm.

Now, with the standardization of social media networks, it seems like we have a new king when it comes to sell services and goods.

Social media channels changed the way we interact with people, brands, and businesses.

Shopping online is not something new, and neither are online consumers.

But businesses can’t ignore social media users, which creates the need to take a look at some important social commerce statistics that are already molding our world.

Continue reading this post to learn more about:

Social Commerce statistics in 2022;
Social commerce and Ecommerce in the years to come;
Everything you need to know about the latest social commerce trends.

Table Of Contents

Social commerce refers to the practice of selling goods and services on a social media platform.

Although ecommerce sales focus on buyers looking for specific online stores, social commerce has a different approach depending on the social network where it takes place.

For starters, let’s look at those relevant statistics that tell us a lot about the current social commerce environment in our world:

In 2021, global social commerce sales increased to $36.62 billion in the US, according to Insider Intelligence;
2020’s pandemic was a point of inflection for global social commerce, which experienced an unprecedented growth of online shoppers;
The latest social commerce strategies aim at younger audiences, but millennials and baby boomers are also interested in social commerce.

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Social channels have a profound impact on user’s perception of brands and trends.

Although online shopping aims at covering the needs of users, the truth is that social commerce statistics reveal that social buyers are interested in different approaches.

Based on US social commerce sales statistics, Insider Intelligence states that there are more than 90 million social buyers across the country.

Consumers search for exceptional customer service, new and differentiated products, and rely on social media posts in order to make a decision.

That’s why it has been proven that a social media platform influences shopping decisions of most social network users.

Demographics

Social commerce use statistics show that the number of female active users is greater than male users in social commerce networks.

Nonetheless, as it happens with ecommerce, the same social commerce strategy can’t always be applied to both genders due to different behaviors.

When it comes to age groups, 43% of people aged 55 to 64 said they had never made an online purchase nor social commerce purchase by any means.

But the data is completely different for younger users: according to Statista, Millennials and GenZ state that social media platforms are better than search engines to research brands, find new products, and eventually become social commerce buyers.

There’s an undeniable connection between social networking, strategies, and commerce, and Gen Z Social Media Usage.

More than half of GenZers ( 55%, Statista) in the US have made at least one purchase through a social media network.

In fact, it is widely known by companies that social media ads influence fashion decisions and contribute to social commerce benefit among young generations.

What’s more, social commerce growth statistics show that while Generation Z continues to increase their buying power, the number of social buyers will go from 79 million to 108 million in just three years from now.

Social platforms are primarily meant for communication, and this objective can’t be changed in social commerce.

The marketing strategy developed by a platform must be solely focused on valuable content that happens to influence purchasing decisions.

We already know that Millennials and GenZers are more motivated to influencer content than other generations, but how does this translate into social commerce sales?

70% of social media users say that they are influenced by live streams in social media networks, according to Insider Intelligence.

It is a fact that the average person spends about 2.5 hours using their mobile devices, and these smart insights have been taken into account by gigantic social media networks, such as TikTok.

For instance, influencers can Go Live on TikTok and attract customers to brands via influencer/mobile commerce marketing strategies.

Since TikTok Pay Per View is not as high as some would believe, live streams and influencer marketing surely seem like a win-win situation for internet users.

It does work magnificently. Social commerce stats show that influencer marketing is the secret sauce behind a social commerce purchase.

86% of marketers and professionals are already thinking about online shopping driven by influencer marketing strategies on social media platforms, and the rapid growth and efficiency of these strategies are making gaining insight into the market easier than ever.

Big companies are starting to understand that influencers have the final word in social commerce.

Snapchat Influencers with Public Profiles can now provide their audience with a “shop” button that drives social media referral traffic.

Likewise, Instagram allows influencers to create shoppable posts, and TikTok has already partnered with Shopify in order to reach a broad market that doesn’t seem to have a roof.

Online shoppers in social platforms reached ground-breaking numbers across the globe in 2021:

When it comes to retail social commerce sales in China and Asia, the total number was $351.65 billion in 2021 alone;
On the other hand, retail commerce sales in the United States were $36.62 billion in 2021, but US social commerce sales are expected to substantially increase during 2022.

According to CouponFollow, internet users are more interested in certain products than others.

This changes between platforms, of course, since tendencies show that Instagram users are more interested in clothing than other social media users.

Video games and accessories represent up to 44% of total social media commerce sales;
In the second place we have toys and hobbies, which made up to 29% of social commerce stats sales;
Watches, jewelry, and accessories are in third and fourth place respectively, with 25% and 26% of the total share of sales;
Other goods, such as consumer electronics and digital books, make the rest of the list regarding retail social commerce sales around the world.

Discovering a Product vs. Purchasing Decision

Although social media networks have proven to be reliable and steady sources of sales, only 11% of users buy immediately, while 44% wait to check other options before investing their money ( Statista).

Therefore, sales on social media are most likely not as immediate as on other platforms, since the gap between discovering a product and deciding to purchase it heavily varies.

Facebook shops, IG TV, quick stories and streamers drive the most sales in social media.

Global internet users share specific behaviors that can be extrapolated to social commerce as well.

Users rely the most on social streamers who show products and talk with confidence before making purchases;
Likewise, short Instagram Reels are considered by the audience as a reliable source of product discovering;
GWI states that implementing call of actions, such as a “buy” button on IG stories, increases by 13% the chances of someone making a purchase.

Ecommerce sites are not something new, and ecommerce companies understand that sales receive a good boost from social media.

Total retail ecommerce sales around the world are expected to reach $4.3 trillion in 2022, and the power received through social media platforms is a factor that determines the final outcome of most ecommerce sales.

According to eMarketer, ecommerce was more popular with Americans than social commerce due to security concerns.

Nonetheless, this is changing rapidly.

93% of American executives are already moving forward with social commerce without leaving ecommerce efforts behind.

Although it is clear that ecommerce is more standardized than social commerce, the truth is that both perfectly complement each other, bringing amazing results to a wide variety of brands and companies.

The information gathered in this article proves that social commerce is a gigantic monster that will continue to grow non-stop during the years to come, but what about the market size and revenue?

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Statista says that the global market size of social commerce is $475 billion as of 2020.

As if it weren’t enough, the market is expected to reach an astonishing number of $3.37 trillion by 2028.

It is evident that the global social media commerce market experienced outstanding numbers from 2020 onwards.

In 2020, the global market sales were $492 billion;
Back in 2021, Statista shows an increase of $560 billion in sales;
The tendency is expected to continue increasing steadily. In fact, some experts estimate that social commerce is growing 3 times faster than ecommerce.

We all know what are the biggest platforms nowadays, but are the biggest ones the best popular for social commerce purposes? You are about to find out:

As surprising as it might seem, the top social commerce companies list is led by Pinterest, since it concentrates the users that spend the most and buy more often;
Nonetheless, when it comes to the overall number of buyers, Facebook has well over 56.1 million buyers, way more than Pinterest, but they don’t buy as frequently;
Instagram is also making its way to the top, al thanks to social commerce features integrated lately on the platform;
Although YouTube and Twitter are also on the list, the truth is that most users prefer to perform research about products on these platforms instead of directly purchasing on them.

What Platform Drove the Most Revenue?

Insider Intelligence shows that Facebook Shops, with over 250 million participants, is the top social commerce platform that drives the most revenue all over the world.

Shopping on Facebook is intuitive and easy, so it’s not a surprise that most users prefer this platform over others.

Social commerce is not going anywhere.

The numbers and statistics we have shown you will be seen as small digits in the years to come - there’s no doubt about it.

Sales Projection in the Years to Come

As we mentioned before, the market will reach more than $3.3 billion in sales by 2028.

This number gives us some clues regarding the relationship between users and social media platforms.

Clearly, perspective around these platforms sets the basis of what the future is going to bring to the market.

In 2022, advertisers predict that they will spend no less than $56 billion just to promote their products on social platforms.

What’s more, in 2023 and 2022 most businesses (73%, specifically), want to directly sell their goods or services on social media.

Social platforms are way more than simple online sites where people go to talk about their day.

They are humanity’s greatest social accomplishment - we can all be connected at the same time from anywhere without limits.

If you want to receive more unique insights regarding social commerce and other digital topics, count on GrowFollowing as your main source of information.

FAQ

Not as many as these apps are in ecommerce.

Social commerce buyers expect a more personal experience due to the nature of social platforms, so bots and messaging applications are going to take a new focus during the following years.

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It’s Facebook, without a doubt. It has more users than other social platforms, and when it comes to sales volumes, no one beats Facebook.

About the author

Karen

Karen is a senior technical writer and copywriter at Hypegrowth. Her area of expertize are social media apps and new media.

Oliver

Oliver is Hypegrowth founder and covers topics ranging from fintech to Internet.

Social Commerce Statistics: Users, Revenue & More

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