Social Media Shopping Stats: What the Numbers Mean for Your Business

Social commerce has moved well beyond Instagram product tags and Facebook Marketplace listings. Consumers in the UK and Ireland now discover, evaluate, and complete purchases without leaving their preferred social platform. For business owners trying to decide where to invest their marketing budgets, that shift raises a straightforward question: what does the data actually say?

This guide pulls together the most relevant social media shopping statistics for 2026, with particular attention to UK and Irish consumer behaviour, platform performance, and the trust issues that still prevent a significant portion of social browsers from converting into buyers.

Key takeaways:

• The global social commerce market is projected to surpass $1.2 trillion by 2025, with the UK among Europe’s fastest-growing markets
• 71% of online users are more likely to make purchasing decisions based on social media reviews
• Trust remains the number one barrier to purchase, with nearly half of consumers citing security concerns as their reason for hesitating
• Gen Z and millennials account for the largest share of social buyers, but Boomers spend more per transaction
• Views do not equal sales — conversion rates vary sharply by platform and product category

The State of Social Commerce: Market Size and Growth

The numbers behind social commerce have moved from “promising” to “significant” in the space of a few years. Understanding the scale helps businesses assess whether the channel deserves serious investment.

Global social commerce revenue reached an estimated $1.14 trillion in 2024, with projections pointing toward $1.27 trillion in 2025 and continued compound growth through the decade. China remains the dominant market by a considerable distance, with around 84% of Chinese consumers completing purchases through social platforms. The UK and Ireland, by contrast, are at an earlier but fast-moving stage of adoption.

The highest rate of social shoppers in Western Europe is in Ireland, with approximately 83% of online consumers using social media as part of their shopping journey. Across the UK more broadly, social media marketing has shifted from a brand awareness tool to a direct revenue channel for a growing number of SMEs.

What the global figures mask is the important distinction between social discovery and social purchase. Many UK consumers still use platforms to research products before completing the transaction on a retailer’s website. The data on in-app checkout completion rates is significantly lower than total social shopping engagement, a nuance that matters when you’re setting expectations for a social commerce investment.

UK and European context

• 80% of Irish internet users prefer social media shopping to traditional shopping
• Ireland has the highest proportion of online shoppers in Western Europe
• TikTok Shop has grown faster in the UK than in the US, partly due to greater regulatory stability
• UK consumers show stronger in-app purchase completion rates on Instagram and TikTok compared to the European average

Consumer Behaviour and Purchasing Decisions

The way social media shapes buying decisions goes beyond paid advertising. Organic content, peer reviews, and creator recommendations all feed into the decision-making process.

71% of online users say they are more likely to make a purchasing decision based on reviews they encounter on social media. This figure points to something that experienced social marketers know well: social proof carries more weight than brand messaging. A customer sharing a genuine experience consistently outperforms a polished advertisement in driving conversion.

54% of online users conduct product research directly on the social platform where they intend to buy. For younger demographics, especially, social search is replacing Google as the starting point for product discovery. When asked what drives their social shopping behaviour, 41% of social media shoppers cite discounts and deals as the primary factor.

Statistics on purchasing decisions influenced by social media

• 71% of online users are more likely to purchase based on social media reviews
• 54% of users research products on the same platform where they shop
• 74% of consumers use social media as part of their purchasing process
• 43% of US internet users describe themselves as “social media shopping addicts”
• 40% of American consumers have completed a purchase after reading social media reviews
• 70% of consumers use social media networks for gift ideas
• 41% of social media shoppers cite discounts and deals as their primary purchase driver
• Most social shoppers spend more than two hours and thirty minutes online during shopping sessions
• 80% of consumers report that a friend’s social media post has influenced a buying decision

For businesses operating in the Belfast and Northern Ireland market, these figures underline a practical point. Customers are already using social platforms to evaluate options before they contact any agency or service provider. Content that addresses real questions — pricing, process, outcomes — does more commercial work than content designed purely for reach or engagement.

Platform Breakdown: Where the Money Is Going

Not every platform delivers the same commercial outcome. Conversion rates, average order values, and audience demographics vary considerably, and the platform that dominates for one product category can be almost irrelevant for another.

Instagram and Facebook

Instagram remains the platform most used by marketers for social commerce, with 72% of marketers reporting it as their primary social selling channel. Facebook’s integrated shop functionality and its older, higher-spending demographic make it a strong performer for considered purchases.

Both platforms benefit from mature advertising infrastructure and strong retargeting options. For B2B audiences, the organic reach is limited, but paid campaigns combined with strong creative content can drive measurable leads.

TikTok Shop

TikTok comes second in overall marketer usage, with 61% of marketers using it to work with content creators. In the UK, TikTok Shop has matured faster than in the US, driven partly by the UK government’s more settled regulatory approach and partly by the platform’s aggressive merchant incentives.

The platform’s strength is discovery. Short-form video creates product awareness at scale, but the path from view to purchase is not linear. Brands that perform well on TikTok typically combine organic creator content with TikTok Shop listings and paid amplification for their best-performing organic content.

Pinterest and YouTube

Pinterest is an underappreciated platform for purchase intent. Users arrive on Pinterest during active planning phases — home renovation, event preparation, seasonal shopping — which means the intent to buy is higher than platform user numbers would suggest. YouTube performs strongly for considered, higher-value purchases where consumers want detailed product information before committing.

Platform comparison: intent and conversion

Age Groups and Demographic Patterns

Social shopping is not exclusively a young person’s activity, but the behaviour patterns differ sharply across generations.

In 2023, 61% of Americans under 25 used social media for shopping, up from 53% in 2020. Gen Z and millennials together make up approximately 50% of the social shopping population. Where Gen Z transacts more frequently, often for lower-value impulse purchases, millennials and older buyers tend to spend more per transaction when they do buy through social channels.

44% of Gen Z consumers have made a purchase following a blogger or creator recommendation, compared with 26% of the general population. This gap is closing as older generations become more comfortable with creator-led content, but the generational divide in trust levels remains meaningful.

70% of internet users who use social media for shopping go on to recommend the brands they buy from. This word-of-mouth multiplier is part of what makes social commerce structurally different from paid search — a satisfied social buyer is more likely to share their experience than a customer who found a brand through a Google ad.

Age group statistics

• 61% of under-25s in America used social media for shopping in 2023, up from 53% in 2020
• Gen Z and millennials account for approximately 50% of social shoppers
• 44% of Gen Z make purchases after a creator recommendation
• Only 26% of the general population buys based on influencer recommendations, though this figure is rising
• 70% of social shoppers recommend the brands they purchase from

The Impact of Influencers and Creators on Social Purchasing

The term “influencer” has evolved considerably. The original wave of aspirational lifestyle accounts has given way to a more fragmented creator economy, where micro-influencers with smaller, specialist audiences often outperform high-follower accounts on conversion.

31% of internet users trust influencers when learning about new products or brands. Among teenagers and Gen Z, that figure rises sharply: 70% say they trust bloggers and content creators more than traditional celebrities. This shift from celebrity endorsement to creator trust has changed how brands need to think about social content. Authenticity and specificity outperform production value and broad appeal.

52% of marketers say they reach their target audience more effectively through creator partnerships than through organic brand content alone. The data from Twitter (now X) shows that 41% of active users have made a purchasing decision based on content they saw on the platform, which places even text-based social content within the purchasing funnel.

“The brands that perform best on social aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets,” notes Ciaran Connolly, founder of ProfileTree. “They’re the ones that understand which creators genuinely connect with their target audience and give those creators enough freedom to make content that actually resonates.”

Influencer impact statistics

• 31% of internet users trust influencers for product and brand information
• 70% of Gen Z and teenagers trust content creators more than celebrities
• 49% of social shoppers rely on blogger recommendations before purchasing
• 52% of marketers report better target audience reach through creator partnerships
• 44% of Gen Z have purchased after a creator recommendation

For SMEs in Belfast and Northern Ireland thinking about influencer marketing, the practical implication is that local and niche creators typically deliver better returns than national accounts with no connection to your market. A food producer in County Down will get more from a partnership with an Irish food blogger than from a UK-wide lifestyle account with ten times the followers.

ProfileTree’s social media marketing services include a creator strategy for SMEs across Northern Ireland, helping businesses identify the right voices for their audience rather than chasing follower counts.

The Trust Gap: Security, Scams and Social Buyer Hesitation

The statistics on social commerce growth tell only half the story. The other half is the substantial proportion of potential buyers who browse social platforms but don’t complete purchases — not because they aren’t interested, but because they don’t trust the transaction.

This is the gap that competitors in this space consistently underreport. Understanding it matters as much as understanding the growth figures.

Why consumers hesitate

Card fraud and financial data theft remain the primary concern for hesitant social shoppers. The fear of sharing financial information with unfamiliar sellers — often operating through platform storefronts with little visible accountability — prevents a meaningful portion of browsers from converting.

The post-purchase experience compounds the problem. Social commerce, particularly for impulse purchases driven by short-form video, carries higher return rates than traditional e-commerce. Products seen in a 30-second video often fail to match expectations when they arrive. UK consumer protection rights apply to social commerce purchases in most cases, but awareness of those rights among buyers is low.

Scepticism toward sponsored content is also rising. Consumers who have encountered undisclosed or misleading influencer promotions carry that scepticism into subsequent social shopping decisions. Authenticity signals — genuine reviews, transparent affiliate disclosures, responsive seller communication — do measurable work in closing the trust gap.

The de-influencing effect

A notable cultural shift across 2024 and into 2025 has been the growth of “de-influencing” content, where creators specifically advise audiences against purchasing products they have personally tested and found unsatisfactory. This content type performs well because it aligns with consumer scepticism, and it has measurably affected purchase rates for some product categories.

For brands, this is a useful signal. Consumers are not rejecting creator recommendations — they are becoming more selective about which creators they trust. Brands that partner with creators who have genuine authority in a category continue to see strong results; brands that treat influencer marketing as paid placement on high-follower accounts are seeing diminishing returns.

Trust statistics

• Financial fraud is the primary barrier to social purchase completion for hesitant buyers
• Social commerce return rates are higher than traditional e-commerce, driven by impulse purchases
• Consumer trust in reviews from personal contacts remains the strongest conversion trigger
• Regulatory protection for UK social commerce buyers exists but awareness among consumers is low

Shopping Formats and Emerging Behaviours

Beyond standard product listings and creator recommendations, several specific formats are driving disproportionate social commerce engagement.

Livestream shopping combines real-time product demonstration with immediate purchase capability. It has grown fastest in Asia but is gaining ground in the UK, particularly in fashion, beauty, and electronics. The format works because it recreates some of the interpersonal dynamic of in-store retail — a presenter answering questions in real time, demonstrating products, and creating a time-limited purchase event.

User-generated content (UGC) increasingly outperforms branded content in driving conversion. Brands that build systems for collecting and sharing genuine customer content see stronger trust signals than those relying on polished brand photography.

In-app checkout versus click-through remains a live debate. In-app completion rates have improved significantly on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, but a meaningful proportion of buyers still prefer to complete transactions on a retailer’s own website. The preference correlates with purchase value — lower-value impulse purchases convert well in-app; higher-value considered purchases see more click-through to websites.

What This Means for Businesses Investing in Social Commerce

The data consistently points in one direction: social media is now a commercial channel, not just a brand channel. But the transition from audience-building to direct revenue requires a different approach.

Several things consistently determine whether a social commerce investment delivers returns:

The quality of product content matters more than platform choice. Short-form vertical video that demonstrates products clearly in a realistic context outperforms polished production that prioritises aesthetics over information.

Response time to comments and messages directly affects conversion. Consumers who ask questions on social posts and receive fast, helpful replies convert at significantly higher rates than those who receive no response or a generic reply.

Trust signals need to be built into the content strategy, not added as an afterthought. Visible reviews, transparent policies, and genuine creator partnerships do more for conversion than additional ad spend.

For Belfast and Northern Ireland businesses considering social commerce more seriously, the starting point is usually not platform selection — it is content strategy and channel suitability assessment. ProfileTree’s digital marketing strategy team works with SMEs across Northern Ireland to identify which platforms and formats align with their audience and commercial objectives, rather than advising broad-brush investment across every available channel.

Video: Social Media Marketing for Business

Future Outlook: Social Commerce Trends to Watch

Several developments are likely to shape social commerce through 2026 and beyond.

AI-driven personalisation is already changing how platforms surface products to individual users. The shift from algorithmic content feeds toward AI-curated shopping recommendations is expected to accelerate, making product discovery more targeted — and raising the bar for the quality of content brands need to produce to be surfaced.

B2B social commerce, particularly on LinkedIn, is an underreported growth area. Research indicates that B2B buyers increasingly use social proof and creator content as part of their vendor evaluation process, even for software and professional services. The dynamics differ significantly from B2C social shopping, but the direction of travel is the same.

Regulatory changes around disclosure and consumer protection are tightening across the UK and EU. Brands operating social commerce channels should expect stricter requirements around influencer disclosure, return policy visibility, and data handling — changes that will affect the cost structure of social commerce operations.

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