The State of Social Commerce in 2024

What Is Social Commerce?

Social commerce, or sCommerce, is the purchase of goods or services from within social media platforms. This online shopping model allows consumers to complete the entire transaction directly in social media apps rather than on third-party websites.

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How Much Are People Spending on Social Shopping?

While social commerce sales saw a big jump from 2019 to 2020 with the massive shift to online shopping, the numbers are expected to continue an upward trend as the state of social commerce expands. By 2025, eMarketer predicts sales in the U.S. alone will reach nearly $80 billion.

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What Influences Shopping Behaviors on Social Media?

The rise in social commerce spend relates directly to an increase in time spent on social media, a behavior that got its start during the pandemic and is expected to continue growing.

While people may interact with social media apps for reasons other than shopping – to see what’s happening with friends, or to read the news – the majority of users have already made purchases directly through social.

So, what can we attribute this to?

Brand awareness, according to 80 percent of consumers. When people are more familiar with a brand, they are more likely to buy from them on social media. And 34 percent of them are actually using social media to learn about products, services, and brands they discovered elsewhere.  

Therefore, if you want to encourage more purchases on social media, the key is creating and sustaining awareness for your brand.

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What Types of Social Content Are Motivating People to Buy?

With the proliferation of content on social platforms, it can be overwhelming to identify the content that works best in terms of social commerce. That’s why we lean on data.

• Paid ads – There is a good reason why we see so many advertisements on social media, and it’s because they work. According to a new study, more than half of millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z have tried a product or service based on a social media ad they saw in the past month.
• Videos – After sharing a video on social media, 93 percent of brands landed a new customer. That kind of data makes it hard to look past using video content for social commerce.
• Organic posts – Not to be overshadowed by paid media and video, organic posts continue to play an important role in brand discoverability. Combining all three can serve up a winning strategy considering the rockstar state of social commerce.

Where Is Social Commerce Seeing the Biggest Gains?

The most popular platforms for social commerce in the U.S. are Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube – though that may vary on the global stage. Snapchat, for example, now claims India as its biggest ad audience, which can have major influence on social selling. TikTok’s advertising tools may not have the breadth and depth of Facebook and Instagram yet, but there is incredible potential for brands looking to reach the platform’s younger audience.

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Where Can You Learn More About Social Commerce?

Now that you have an understanding of the sate of social commerce, you might be interested in learning more. Simplilearn has a variety of resources to help you increase your knowledge of social shopping:

• The Dos and Don’ts of Social Selling on LinkedIn and Facebook
• Digital and Social Selling – The New Sales Directive
• Social Selling VS Marketing – Which Works Better for Your Team?

You can enroll in Simplilearn’s Post Graduate Program in Digital Marketing or  Free Digital and Social Selling Course to learn about social selling using CRM tools, sales intelligence, and social engagement tools.