Social shopping is now a primary buying channel, with 72% of consumers reporting they have shopped via social media. The U.S. social commerce market reached an estimated $66.4 billion, reflecting its mainstream adoption.
Key Takeaways
- 55% of users say they use social networks to research products before buying—research behavior is a measurable driver of social shopping.
- 65% of consumers report that social media influences what they buy—social influence is a quantified input to social shopping.
- 48% of consumers said they’d like to see more product information from brands on social media—requesting more product content supports conversion in social shopping.
- The U.S. social commerce market was estimated at $66.4B in 2023—quantifies the domestic scope of social shopping in a major market.
- In 2024, social networking had the highest share among U.S. referral traffic sources for e-commerce—indicating its role in social shopping journeys.
- In 2023, livestream commerce in China accounted for about 10% of total e-commerce sales—measurable penetration of live social shopping.
- In 2022, 42% of shoppers said they were likely to buy something from a social media post—quantifying purchase intent linked to social shopping.
- Influencer marketing can deliver 11x ROI based on a commonly cited report from industry benchmarking—quantifies the economic impact associated with social shopping.
- In a 2023 study, 70% of consumers said they are more likely to purchase after seeing a brand’s video on social—measurable impact of video content on purchase likelihood.
- In 2023, 49% of consumers reported being influenced by reviews and ratings when purchasing online—reviews are a measurable trust element in social shopping.
Social media drives buying with clear influence, intent, and fast conversion across key platforms.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption7 stats
01
55% of users say they use social networks to research products before buying—research behavior is a measurable driver of social shopping.
02
65% of consumers report that social media influences what they buy—social influence is a quantified input to social shopping.
03
48% of consumers said they’d like to see more product information from brands on social media—requesting more product content supports conversion in social shopping.
04
In a 2023 survey, 72% of consumers said they have shopped via social media at least once—measured prevalence of social shopping activity.
05
36% of Instagram users say they have purchased a product directly from Instagram—demonstrates in-platform purchase behavior.
06
27% of TikTok users say they have purchased something from TikTok—measurable conversion interest on a key social video platform.
07
42% of Pinterest users say they have clicked a Pin to shop—quantifies path-to-purchase behavior on a shopping-oriented social network.
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 72% of consumers reporting they have shopped via social media at least once and 65% saying social media influences what they buy, user adoption of social shopping is clearly mainstream and driven by both trial and ongoing purchase impact.
02 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
The U.S. social commerce market was estimated at $66.4B in 2023—quantifies the domestic scope of social shopping in a major market.
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the Market Size angle, the U.S. social commerce market reaching an estimated $66.4B in 2023 shows social shopping is already a substantial, mainstream spending channel rather than a niche behavior.
More related reading
03 · Category
Industry Trends6 stats
01
In 2024, social networking had the highest share among U.S. referral traffic sources for e-commerce—indicating its role in social shopping journeys.
02
In 2023, livestream commerce in China accounted for about 10% of total e-commerce sales—measurable penetration of live social shopping.
03
In 2022, 42% of shoppers said they were likely to buy something from a social media post—quantifying purchase intent linked to social shopping.
04
In 2023, 39% of consumers said they plan to buy products they discover on social media within the next 3 months—time-bound intent for social shopping.
05
Instagram shopping feature usage increased year over year to support billions of views—indicates measurable product discovery engagement.
06
In 2024, Pinterest Shopping Pins are available to help users save and shop—feature availability is tracked as part of commerce capability expansion.
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In 2024, social networking leads U.S. e commerce referral traffic, while in China livestream commerce reached about 10% of total e commerce sales in 2023, underscoring how rapidly social platforms are becoming mainstream channels for actual shopping behavior and purchase intent.
04 · Category
Performance Metrics7 stats
01
Influencer marketing can deliver 11x ROI based on a commonly cited report from industry benchmarking—quantifies the economic impact associated with social shopping.
02
In a 2023 study, 70% of consumers said they are more likely to purchase after seeing a brand’s video on social—measurable impact of video content on purchase likelihood.
03
In 2023, 49% of consumers reported being influenced by reviews and ratings when purchasing online—reviews are a measurable trust element in social shopping.
04
In 2024, the average conversion rate across social commerce is reported at around 1.5% by ecommerce analytics firms—benchmarks conversion performance for social shopping flows.
05
In 2024, Instagram Reels averaged 2.18 billion monthly active users (global)—a key engagement metric underlying social shopping attention.
06
In 2024, TikTok reached 1.56 billion monthly active users globally—attention scale for TikTok-driven social shopping.
07
In 2024, Pinterest has 482 million monthly active users worldwide—useful for estimating social shopping reach.
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show social shopping is delivering measurable gains at scale, with influencer marketing reaching 11x ROI and video engagement influencing 70% of consumers, while social commerce conversion averages about 1.5% and the main discovery engines like Instagram Reels and TikTok support billions of monthly active users.
report visual · Key figures
Key Social Shopping Behaviors (Share of users/consumers)
Social shopping is driven by research and influence from social media, with meaningful shares of consumers showing intent and platform-level purchasing behavior.
55%
55% of users say they use social networks to research products before buying—research behavior is a measurable driver of
65%
65% of consumers report that social media influences what they buy—social influence is a quantified input to social shop
72%
In a 2023 survey, 72% of consumers said they have shopped via social media at least once—measured prevalence of social s
42%
In 2022, 42% of shoppers said they were likely to buy something from a social media post—quantifying purchase intent lin
39%
In 2023, 39% of consumers said they plan to buy products they discover on social media within the next 3 months—time-bou
36%
36% of Instagram users say they have purchased a product directly from Instagram—demonstrates in-platform purchase behav
source-verifiedsalesforce.com · hubspot.com · studocu.com · gartner.com · campaignlive.com · facebook.com2023
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Megan Gallagher. (2026, February 13). Social Shopping Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/social-shopping-statistics
MLA
Megan Gallagher. "Social Shopping Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/social-shopping-statistics.
Chicago
Megan Gallagher. 2026. "Social Shopping Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/social-shopping-statistics.
Sources & references
21 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
shopify.com
about.instagram.com+5 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)