Select Page
Social Commerce

We know by now that Gen-Z and Millenials are the most active age groups when it comes to social media, e-commerce, and digital consumption of content. The always-connected user is always consuming information nearly 24x7x365. In this infographic, we can read what 350 American Gen-Z and Millenials think about buying through social media and their social commerce habits.

But let us start at the beginning. What is social commerce? Social commerce is the process of selling products directly on social media. The entire shopping experience, from product discovery and research to the checkout process, can happen without the consumer having to leave the social media platform.

What is not social commerce? Social commerce is not simply a way for social channels to increase traffic to your traditional sales channels. Social commerce is not eCommerce. It is also not social selling.

The agency The Influencer Marketing Factory surveyed 350 American Gen Z and Millennials to know more about their experience and social commerce habits. Let us review some of the results they have got.

Nearly 50% of the audience mentions the average time until a purchase is done after a product is first seen on social media – “I like to carefully research the product online before buying.” Only 20% stated they would purchase straight away.

  • 40% bought at least an item or service while watching a live stream on a social media app.
  • 60% purchased at least one item on their smartphone thanks to social media brand’s posts and/or influencers’ content.
  • 46% of the responders buy something at least once a month, thanks to social media brands posts and/or influencer’s content.
  • A solid 41% buy mostly Apparel and 23% Beauty products thanks to social media brands’ posts and/or influencer’s content.

Overall, what do Gen Z and Millennials prefer, online shopping or in-store shopping? 1/3 stated to buy online or in-store or in both.

Gen Z and Millennials have different approaches to typically finding out about brands/services. See the infographic below for more details.

61% of the responders prefer to “Add To Cart” an item (paying directly in the app) compared to the other 39% that prefer to “View on Website” (buying on a third-party website).

Technology is not everything

“Even if we, Gen Z, know how to buy directly in-app without leaving a certain social media, I feel that the majority of the time we prefer to save a specific item seen on a social media post and visit the brand website to gather more information such as brand values, customers’ reviews, and also we want to use desktop browser extensions like Honey to find potential discounts!” – Natalie Hey-Shipton, Student at University of California, Berkeley

To the question “How important are online product reviews to Gen Z & Millennials?” they responded on average 7.85 out of 10.

Market Size is Huge

The global Social Commerce Market that was estimated at S89.4 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of $604.5 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 31.4% over the analysis period 2020-2027.

The number of US social commerce buyers grew by 25.2% to 80.1 million in 2020 and will grow another 12.9% to 90.4 million in 2021.

US retail social commerce sales will rise by 34.8% to $36.09 billion this year, representing 4.3% of all retail e-commerce sales.

Asking is “The [BUY NOW] feature is a necessity for me to purchase when I browse online on a social media app” was answered mixed. 78% have never used a “Buy Now Pay Later” service (e.g. Klarna, Affirm, etc).

Below in the infographic, you can read how Gen Z and Millennials rated the actual status of their online shopping experience on Instagram and TikTok. Instagram was rated 5.3 out of 10 on average and TikTok 4.1 out of 10 on average.

Learn More download the FREE 40+ pages report that includes: The Online Shopping Experience, Apps, Platforms, Social Commerce Habits, and much more.

Gen Z & Millennials Social Commerce Habits

Working 7 years with Adobe I was always inspired by my creative co-workers and the endless possibilities of Adobe products. Photoshop had an amazing impact in human life.

Dieter Hovorka

CTO, Co-founder, Skillz Middle East

Share and Enjoy !

Subscribe To Our Blog!!

Subscribe To Our Blog!!

We have daily a fresh blog for you, read about Digital Transformation, Digital Marketing, Technology, Business, Lifestyle, and nice Infographics, sign up now!!!

You have Successfully Subscribed!