Half of Americans shop through social media, and their willingness to buy is increasing

According to the latest research from Mintel, social commerce will account for 5% of US e-commerce sales in 2022, and is expected to rise to nearly 7% by 2025. The growth pace of social commerce in the United States is much slower than in other countries, but it is still on an upward trend overall.

New Mintel data shows that half (47%) of Americans have purchased something through social media, 39% of those who have purchased something would buy it again, and 58% are interested in shopping on social media.

Security is a major pain point among US social media consumers, with 40% saying they lack trust in the security of social media payments. Only 17% are willing to buy from a brand’s social media portal, compared to the brand’s website (41%).

However, 34% of consumers said they would be more willing to shop on a platform if it was transparent about how it protects user data, and 35% said they would buy from a brand’s social media channels if it was recommended by someone they trusted.

When it comes to social media shopping channels, 75% of U.S. consumers said they have shopped on Facebook, 50% on Instagram, 29% on YouTube, and 18% on TikTok.

The report noted that while Facebook leads as a consumer shopping location, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok are achieving faster growth in social shopping, mainly due to the influence of Facebook Marketplace.

In terms of content traffic, video content is currently the most popular type of content on social media. 31% of consumers said they often watch videos posted by brands on social media, and 22% of consumers will follow the brand's live broadcasts.

In fact, nearly half of Americans (46%) have purchased something through live streaming and would do so again, suggesting that video, especially shoppable video, is a key factor in driving social commerce success.

The data comes from a study of 699 U.S. internet users aged 18 and over.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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