Social Media Shopping Statistics

Last updated: October 1, 2024

Highlights. Global shoppers will spend $1.23 trillion on social media commerce in 2024; projections indicate the market will be worth over $2.05 trillion in 2029.

  • 110.4 million or 40.4% of American online consumers shop on social media in 2024.
  • In the United States, social media commerce is worth $90.6 billion, projections indicate that social media commerce will exceed $154 billion in 2029. 
  • 51.3% of social media users aged 14 years or older also shop on social media.
  • 55% of 18- to 24-year-olds have made a purchase via social media.
  • Social media commerce represents at least 10% of e-commerce sales.

Grouped Bar Chart: Social Media Retail Spending Worldwide in billions from 2021 ($602) and 2023 ($1,077) with projections to 2029 ($2,050) according to Statista & eMarketer

Social Media Shopping Financial Statistics

Projections indicate that social media will become a more lucrative means of commerce in years to come.

  • Global shoppers spent $1.08 billion on social media commerce in 2023, up 27.2% year-over-year (YoY).
  • Projections indicate that global social media retail revenue will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8% from 2024 to 2029.
  • U.S. social e-commerce sales have a projected 11.2% CAGR from 2024 to 2029.
  • In the United States, social commerce represents 6.09% of e-commerce.
  • Social commerce represents 0.91% of retail sales in the U.S.
  • Compared to mobile commerce, global social commerce is worth 66.2% less in revenue.

Bar Graph: U.S. Social Media Retail Spending in billions from 2021 ($33.7) to 2023 ($75.6) with projections to 2029 ($154.1) according to Statista

Social Media Consumer Statistics

U.S. consumers aged 18 to 34 years old are the most likely to shop on social media.

  • Shopping among social media users over the age of 14 years increased 3.37% from 2023 to 2024.
  • The number of Americans shopping on social media increased 4.09% from 2022 to 2023.
  • 40% of U.S. digital consumers follow an influencer or content creator on social media.
  • 30% of digital consumers have purchased an item in response to an influencer or creator’s post.
  • 12% of holiday shoppers in the U.S. made a purchase on social media over the 2023 shopping season. 
  • 43.1% of U.S. social media users visit social platforms to learn about brands or view their content. 
  • 62.2% of internet users in the U.S. research brands or products they are considering buying on social media.

Bar Graph: U.S. Social Media Shoppers in millions by consumers who have made a purchase over social media from 2021 (96.9) to 2023 (106.8) with projections to 2029 (121.6) according to Statista

Global Social Commerce Statistics

24.9% of consumers worldwide shop on social media. 

  • In 2023, 73% of global consumers aged 18 to 35 years old purchased products on social media.
  • 64% of consumers aged 35 to 44 years old and 48% of consumers aged 45 to 54 purchase products on social media.
  • 35% of consumers aged 55 to 64 and 25% of consumers over 65 years old made a purchase on social media in 2023.
  • 26.1% of social media users worldwide use social media platforms to find products to purchase. 
  • 48.9% of social media users use social platforms to learn about brands or view their content. 
  • 73.9% of internet users use social media to research brands and products they are interested in buying. 
  • 23.4% of global internet users follow a brand on a social media platform monthly.  
  • 28.7% of internet users discover new products or services through social media advertisements. 

Bar Graph: Digital Buyer Use of Social Media Platforms by social media shoppers who made a purchase on the platform once in 30 days including Facebook (20.6%), Instagram (11.8%), YouTube (10.7%), TikTok (8.2%), Pinterest (5.1%), and Twitter (5.1%) according to Statista

Social Media Shopping Platform Statistics

Facebook is the most popular platform for social media commerce among consumers over 35 years old.

  • Digital shoppers are 74.6% more likely to buy on Facebook than they are on Instagram, which is the second-most popular platform for social media commerce.
  • In an average month, up to 1.23 billion or 40% of online shoppers buy something on Facebook Marketplace.
  • Over 1.40 billion or 70% of active users shop on Instagram.
  • 62.7% of Instagram users worldwide use the platform to follow brands or research products. 
  • 54.3% of Facebook users and 44.9% of TikTok users follow brands or research products on their respective platforms.
  • 36.6% of users follow or research brands and products on Pinterest; 35.7% of users of X (formally Twitter) use the platform for shopping research.

Bar Graph: Social Consumers Following Influencers including content creators by user age; 18-29 years (72%), 30-49 years (44%), 50-64 years(26%), and 65+ years (12%) according to Pew Research Center

These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.

Sources

  1. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Meta Platforms, Inc.
  2. Statista
  3. Forbes
  4. eMarketer, Insider Intelligence
  5. U.S. Census Bureau, Retail Monthly Trade
  6. Pew Research Center, E-Commerce: For Shopping
  7. Products Up, Social Commerce on Instagram
  8. SendPulse, What is Instagram eCommerce: Complete Guide
  9. DataReportal, Digital 2024