What is social commerce? Stats, trends and tips marketers should know for 2025

Social media marketing is no longer just for connection—it’s a key sales channel.

According to The 2025 Sprout Social Index™, social commerce is blurring lines between engagement and online shopping, shortening the path to purchase. This presents marketers with many opportunities to leverage social for ecommerce.

Choosing the right platforms and using them effectively within your social media strategy is crucial for driving conversions and revenue in 2025.

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services directly within a social media platform. It involves taking social media beyond its traditional role in the discovery process. Instead, users will get to complete the entire purchase journey within the same platform. That means they can quickly go from discovery to purchase without leaving their preferred apps, especially within a popular social media app that integrates shopping features.

Leading social media platforms now offer dedicated social commerce tools to retailers. This includes platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok. Using these tools, you can create digital storefronts right within the respective platforms. That way, people can use these storefronts to discover and buy products without having to visit another website.

Social commerce vs. ecommerce

Ecommerce broadly encompasses the process of buying and selling goods online. It includes selling through different digital channels including online marketplaces, websites and dedicated retailer apps.

Meanwhile, social commerce involves selling directly through a social media platform. Since social media is an online channel, social commerce is a subset of ecommerce but it’s not the same as ecommerce.

Best social commerce platforms to use in 2025

As consumer behavior shifts towards discovering and purchasing products directly within social feeds, brands need to know which platforms are best for their strategy. Networks offering integrated storefronts, shoppable content formats like posts and videos, live shopping and seamless checkout experiences are becoming essential components of a social commerce strategy. Let’s explore the top networks leading the charge.

Instagram

With its built-in shopping tools, huge active user base and powerful influencer network, Instagram works very well for driving product discovery and purchases directly in feeds and Stories.

Instagram’s visual engagement combined with its social commerce capabilities, provide a simple, direct way for people to buy.

Due to its visual nature, brands in fashion, beauty, home decor, food & beverage, travel and lifestyle especially thrive on this social commerce network.

Instagram Shopping is directly linked to your Facebook Shop. To set up a shop, users must link their Instagram business account to their Facebook business profile. Once that’s completed, users can upload an existing product catalog or create a new one.

Then you can use Instagram Product Tags to make your content shoppable and your products easier to discover. Product Tags allow you to highlight items from your product catalog directly in your videos and posts. Users can tap on a tag and immediately learn more about the product.

The “View shop” button lets them browse your other listings and enjoy a seamless shopping experience. Like Facebook, purchases take place within the app or on your business website.

Tips for shoppable posts on Instagram

Now that you understand how Instagram’s shopping features work, let’s dive into how you can optimize your content. Here are some key strategies to make your shoppable posts even more effective on this network:

• Spend your time creating high-quality Reels and Stories that showcase your products in use, rather than just standard product shots.
• Leverage user-generated content (UGC) to help build social proof and trust.
• Use a third party social content publisher, like Sprout Social, to help you consistently schedule a range of different content formats and track which visuals are driving the most engagement and conversions.

Facebook

Facebook offers access to over 3.5 billion people, and has a built-in Shops feature.

For many businesses that sell directly to consumers (B2C) like those in apparel, electronics, consumer packaged goods and home goods, Facebook can be an effective sales channel. Facebook Marketplace is a great option for local businesses in these same industries.

Facebook’s social commerce tool, Facebook Shops, has a very low barrier to entry. Shops are free to set up and are accessible within your Facebook business profile.

If you’re using a partner platform, you can automatically sync your entire inventory list in seconds. If not, you can use a spreadsheet to upload product information.

The Facebook Shop tab on the platform’s mobile app features products based on user preferences. This helps to encourage organic brand discovery. Once consumers find your products, they can complete a purchase within the app or on your website. Sellers communicate with customers within Messenger to ask questions, offer support and more.

Tips for shoppable posts on Facebook

Consider these tips to truly leverage the network’s extensive reach and abilities:

• Advanced advertising tools and precise targeting options connect you directly with your target audience and guide them towards making purchases within the network.
• To maximize reach, make sure your Facebook Shop is connected to your e-commerce system (such as Shopify or WooCommerce) for consistent inventory and order management.
• Use dynamic ads to re-engage people who have visited your website.
• Use Messenger for personalized customer service, which can help lead to sales through Meta Pay.

TikTok

TikTok reaches a lot of people through its engaging user experience. TikTok has become the new search engine, leading to high interaction and quick purchases—especially with Gen Z and Millennials who really trust recommendations from creators.

Products that are currently popular in fashion, beauty and gadgets, as well as unique or specialized items and entertainment-focused brands, tend to do best on TikTok.

It’s easier than ever for retailers to make money on TikTok since the platform introduced social commerce capabilities. Businesses can now set up a TikTok Shop to showcase their products and drive purchases directly within the app. With this feature, you’ll be able to create shoppable videos and even enable viewers to shop directly on your TikTok LIVE broadcasts. To drive sales through TikTok Shop, you can also use product showcases and affiliate programs that empower creators to earn commissions by promoting your products.

Tips for shoppable posts on TikTok

To truly harness TikTok’s unique, trend-driven environment for social commerce, you need to do more than just showcase products. Here’s how to craft shoppable content that resonates with its dynamic audience and drives more purchases:

• When creating content, focus on being genuine and entertaining rather than using sales pitches.
• Use an influencer marketing platform, like Sprout, to find and team up with creators whose style truly matches your brand to amplify your reach and tap into new audiences.
• Try TikTok Shop’s live shopping features for engaging, limited-time sales events.
• Use social listening tools, such as those in Sprout Social, to quickly spot new trends that fit your brand and include them in your social commerce content.

Shopify

Shopify has become a powerhouse in enabling social commerce, extending its robust e-commerce capabilities directly into the social media landscape. Merchants can seamlessly integrate their Shopify stores with various social networks, allowing them to showcase and sell products where their customers are already spending their time.

With features like synced inventories, businesses can manage their products across multiple sales channels from a single dashboard, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

Think of Shopify as your powerful partner for selling online. It’s your complete system behind the scenes that makes selling on different social media channels much simpler.

Shopify helps keep your product information, stock levels and order management all lined up across your social media shops, which really simplifies things for you. Plus, using Shop Pay on Facebook and Instagram can lead to faster checkouts and more sales.

Shopify tips for social commerce

Leveraging Shopify as the backbone of your social commerce efforts can streamline your operations. To get the most out of this powerful integration, consider these essential tips for a smoother selling experience across networks:

• Make the most of Shopify’s integrations with major social networks—Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Pinterest and YouTube. This ensures your product catalog stays automatically updated and correct everywhere.
• It’s best to first refine your product titles, descriptions and images within Shopify itself, as this basic information is what feeds into your social media shops.
• Also consider solutions like Sprout Social. We can help connect your social media marketing and customer interactions with the sales operations you manage in Shopify, making your overall process run more smoothly.

Pinterest

People visit Pinterest specifically to find ideas, plan and purchase items. This makes Pinterest a place where users discover new things and seriously consider buying them.

Brands in home decor, DIY and crafts, fashion, beauty, food, travel and wedding or event planning especially fit the network’s audience appeal. Also, brands that have visually appealing products, or have a longer lead time before a purchase, do particularly well on Pinterest.

Pinterest Shopping has made it easier for retailers to sell on Pinterest. It lets you upload your product catalog to your Pinterest business page. You can then tag products in your Pins so people can click on those tags to learn more about them.

Keep in mind that these Product Pins are not direct social commerce tools. Buyers will still get redirected to a product-specific landing page to complete their purchase. However, it simplifies the buying journey as people can get the product info right within Pinterest.

Tips for shoppable posts on Pinterest

Given Pinterest’s unique user intent focused on discovery and planning, optimizing your shoppable Pins requires a specific approach. Here’s how to ensure your content captures attention and effectively guides Pinners towards a purchase:

• Focus on creating high-quality Pins that are informative and visually appealing—video tutorials are great for this. Make sure your Pins are set up with relevant search keywords (not just hashtags) so people can find them.
• Create themed boards that match the kinds of projects or lifestyle goals your customers are interested in and feel free to include shoppable Pins where they fit naturally.
• Use analytics tools, like those in Sprout Social, to see which visual styles, themes and keywords work best for keeping users engaged over time, encouraging saves (which can signal future purchases) and ultimately sales.

YouTube

YouTube uses the power of video for detailed product stories, demos, how-to guides and reviews. This approach helps build trust and makes your brand seem more reliable, especially when you include endorsements from creators. It’s a great way to teach customers about your products before they decide to buy.

YouTube works best for items like electronics, beauty (particularly for tutorials), hobbies and gaming, educational products and cars. It’s also great for any DIY products or services that really shine with a visual explanation or a more in-depth look.

As of late, YouTube has expanded its social commerce capabilities, allowing creators and brands to tag and highlight products directly in their videos, Shorts and livestreams. You can use features like Shopping Collections to enable creators to curate products around specific themes in their video content.

Tips for shoppable posts on YouTube

With YouTube’s strong emphasis on in-depth video content, your approach to shoppable posts should leverage this to build trust and guide viewers. To make the most of its commerce features, consider these targeted tactics:

• Work with YouTube creators who fit your brand to make genuine video reviews and tutorials that show off tagged products from your connected shop.
• Use YouTube Shorts for quick, eye-catching product spotlights that can lead people to watch longer, more detailed videos or go straight to your product pages.
• Make sure your brand’s YouTube channel has a clearly organized and promoted store tab.
• Keep an eye on how many people click on your video links and product displays by using social media analytics tools. This will help you see how much your videos are directly helping you sell products.

Twitter (X)

X (formerly known as Twitter) is all about what’s happening right now–live conversations, exciting trends and people connecting. This makes it a great network for launching new products, holding quick sales, getting instant customer opinions and building loyalty through customer service chats.

X is ideal for tech and gadget companies, gaming and entertainment brands, product launches tied to current news, and brands that have a strong community or frequently release products in limited, time-sensitive batches.

On X, you can use X Shops to showcase up to 50 products synced via Shopify, allowing users to browse without leaving the app. You can also use the Product Drops feature to create hype to tease upcoming launches and your followers can set reminders to be notified when products go on sale.

Tips for shoppable posts on X

Given X’s real-time, conversational nature, your social commerce tactics should be agile and engaging. Here are some tips to effectively use its features to drive sales and excitement:

• Use the Product Drops feature to create excitement for new items.
• Take advantage of how fast things move on X for your limited-time offers or exclusive product releases.
• Keep a close watch on what people are saying about your brand and related topics (tools like Sprout Social Listening can help with this). This way, you can spot chances to make sales in real-time or quickly fix customer service problems that might affect whether someone buys from you.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the perfect platform for direct, personalized 1:1 communication. It’s great for high-touch customer service, nurturing qualified leads and delivering targeted offers or updates right to customers who have opted in. Plus, it helps you build stronger, more private relationships with your customers.

WhatsApp is a great social commerce platform for brands that offer high-consideration purchases (e.g. luxury goods, automotive, B2B services). It’s also great for subscription-based brands and brands that prioritize relationship building and customer retention.

You can showcase your brand’s offerings directly within the messaging app by using product catalogs and collections. In some regions, customers can browse products, add items to a cart and even complete purchases in-app.

You can also manage customer interactions efficiently whether they are prospects or existing customers with quick replies, automated messages and contact labels.

Tips for shoppable posts on WhatsApp

Leveraging WhatsApp for social commerce means focusing on personalized engagement and direct communication. To make the most of its intimate setting, keep these tips in mind:

• Use the WhatsApp Business Platform to share product catalogs and offer one-on-one consultations or support to help customers make a purchase.
• While you can use automated messages to be more efficient, it’s important to have human agents available to answer complex questions.
• Only messaging people who have opted in and that you’re providing value to in your messages. Help them see your brand as a resource instead of an annoyance.
• Connect your conversations to your team’s overall customer view by using tools like Sprout Social’s Smart Inbox to keep everything organized while maintaining context across your support and engagement channels.

5 benefits of social commerce for your business

1. Reach a wider audience of potential customers

Social media usage is constantly on the rise, with more than 5 billion people using it worldwide. Couple that with the fact that consumers are discovering new brands and products through social media.

Consumers are finding products through a social media post. With social commerce now integrated into social media apps, researching products on social media and seeing a friend’s post are other common ways consumers discover products.

Not to mention, direct purchases via a link or in-app social media purchases are becoming more commonplace on social than ever. It was estimated that there would be 110.4 million US social media buyers by end of 2024–that’s half of all social media users.

When you leverage social commerce, your products get in front of a massive audience. You’ll reach more people who could turn into customers.

2. Convert customers where they are and remove friction

Social commerce makes it easy to convert customers where they are since they can directly make purchases on the platform. It eliminates the need to switch to a different app or website to find the product they want to buy. As such, it removes friction and barriers to purchase by shortening the buying journey.

3. Increase reviews and recommendations through social proof

If your business is new to selling online, social media is the perfect place to begin establishing much-needed social proof. When shopping online, your buyers can’t necessarily test or try on your product. Reviews can be the key to making an educated purchase decision.

Managing your end-to-end customer journey on social media creates a positive feedback loop. This will eventually have an impact on your bottom line.

Your social content attracts new followers into your funnel. And offering social commerce gives them a chance to purchase and leave reviews in one centralized location. As your engagement grows with new reviews coming in, it sends a positive signal to social media algorithms. These algorithms will deem your content relevant to even more potential customers.

4. Gather useful data on your customers’ social habits

Social commerce features give you direct access to your customers’ social profiles. This gives you valuable customer data that you can use to inform your existing strategy.

Combine these insights with social media listening to get an even better understanding of your audience. That way, you get an even more comprehensive look into the habits and interests of your customers.

You can create more inspired conversion experiments based on these insights. Findings can inform messaging A/B tests, CTA optimizations and more. So you can make a bigger impact with your target audience.

5. Drive additional revenue than traditional ecommerce

Social commerce is driving an increasing portion of marketing-driven revenue for ecommerce businesses. According to EMarketer, retail social commerce sales in the US is estimated to pass the $100 billion milestone in 2025.

With retail social commerce set to triple by 2025, hopping on the social commerce bandwagon is a great move. As social commerce opens up new avenues for your business to drive sales, it gives you the opportunity to grow your revenue.

6 social commerce statistics marketers should know

1. Facebook is the most popular platform for social commerce. It’s expected to reach 64.6 million social commerce buyers in 2024.
2. Instagram comes next with an estimated 46.8 million buyers making a purchase in 2023.
3. TikTok is an up and coming option with 35.3 million users buying on the platform. In 2023, the platform gained more shoppers than the net increase of shoppers on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest combined.
4. According to Statista, the social commerce penetration rate had risen by 23.6% in 2023. It’s expected to continue to rise by another estimated 5% by 2028.
5. 50% of marketers plan to increase their investment in social selling in 2024.
6. 32% of Gen Zers make a purchase based on an influencers recommendation and for Millennials, it’s 21%.
7. In a global Statista 2024 survey among brands and marketing agencies, 26% of respondents stated they planned on investing more than 40% of their marketing budget into influencer marketing activity. Additionally, 22.4% of respondents stated they were planning to invest 10-20% into this form of marketing.
8. The global influencer market size amounted to $15.2 billion in 2022 and was projected to surpass $22 billion by 2025. In 2023, the global influencer market size amounted to $21 billion.

4 successful social commerce examples

Check out these four social commerce examples to find inspiration on how to build your own strategy.

1. The Tiny Tassel

The Tiny Tassel is a retailer specializing in handmade jewelry. It uses Facebook Shop features to create informative, Facebook-native product pages. Each listing features detailed product descriptions, customization options and shipping information.

Brands should follow Tiny Tassel’s lead and post listings that communicate value. This builds trust with potential buyers who are new to your brand, motivating them to make that first purchase.

2. Patagonia

Pinterest boards can serve as product navigation tools for your audience. Take Patagonia’s Pinterest structure: the Product Pin boards mimic its website navigation. This creates a familiar experience for returning audiences. Similarly, new potential customers will enjoy a consistent experience when they click through to the brand’s main site.

Most social commerce platforms offer just enough flexibility to recreate your brand experience. Use these tools to create consistency for your audience.

3. Target

Catalog setup can take a long time If your ecommerce platform doesn’t partner with Facebook. Rather than list all of its products, Target focuses on items that align with its Instagram content strategy. This creates a better browsing experience for its established Instagram audience.

If you’re working with a larger inventory, you can use Sprout’s Instagram Performance Reports. This helps you make smarter listing choices based on content engagement and popular hashtags.

4. Made by Mitchell

Makeup brand, Made by Mitchell introduced a product that was exclusively available on TikTok Shop. The brand took advantage of TikTok’s LIVE shopping feature for its initial launch.

The brand had collaborated with TikTok creator, Melissa Jade for this collection. So the two parties had a duel livestream on both their accounts. This attracted 50,000 LIVE views combined and a total of 2.4 million product views. The livestream session even had a 100% sell-out rate.

Brands should follow suit and take full advantage of TikTok’s LIVE shopping feature to engage shoppers in real-time. You can even maximize your reach with influential content creators.

The brand further encouraged sales through mystery beauty bundles. People were buying these mystery bundles on the brand’s TikTok Shop and creating unboxing videos. This helped to build a buzz around the collection and persuaded others to buy their own mystery boxes.

Image Source: Statuo

5 ways to increase sales on social media using Sprout Social

1. Know your audience

Align your social commerce strategy with your target social audience for maximum engagement. Choose products and messaging based on this specific customer subset instead of simply repeating what’s on your website.

A social media analytics tool can help you keep up with information as your audience grows. Sprout Profile Reports offer follower demographic data to create platform-wise customer personas. Use these in combination with post performance data to make your initial decisions about which products to list and how to position them.

2. Schedule your content

Once you share a listing, schedule some promotional posts to build interest and drive traffic to your new social storefront. This is a great way to share additional product information, like walkthroughs and close-up shots.

Use Sprout’s built-in social commerce catalogs to add shoppable tags and links to your products while scheduling your content. By adding products to your posts, you can meet customers where they want to shop and streamline their purchase process.

3. Personalize your replies

Asking questions about a product or service is one of the top reasons consumers reach out to brands on social. They may have requests for specific product details, ask about a specific order or want to know which options are available. Not only can you answer those questions by recommending a product, but you can even share a direct link to buy it. It’s a win-win—you’re delivering helpful service and making it easier for consumers to buy what they’re looking for.

Sprout helps you add direct product links to replies using built-in product catalogs from Facebook Shops and Shopify. You can also answer questions about order status, shipping details and more without switching to another tool.

4. Learn what works (and do more of it)

As you dip your toe into the world of social commerce, the best thing you can do is measure, measure, measure. Knowing what’s working can help you repeat your success as you scale your strategy. It can even help to illuminate new opportunities you might have otherwise missed.

Monitor your social analytics to manage performance. Remember to categorize your posts in Sprout by tagging them, giving you an in-depth look at what’s working and what’s not. Combine this with UTM parameters and you can dig in, see which posts drove sales and adjust your strategy to optimize your posts. With Sprout, you can schedule report deliveries on a weekly or monthly basis to stay on top of this process.

5. Automate conversations and increase response times

Failing to provide timely responses is one of the biggest social commerce mistakes. Before people finalize their purchases on your social media storefront, they may need some additional info. It’s your job to ensure that those potential customers get the response they need when they need it.

Sprout lets you build chatbots with customized responses so you can automate those conversations. That way, you can provide quick responses even when your support team is unavailable. And customers will get the answers they need to make informed purchase decisions.

Starting out with a social commerce strategy

Social media has revolutionized the way businesses and consumers interact, and social commerce is its newest frontier. You now know all the basics about social commerce–from what benefits you can enjoy to which platforms you should use. So if you’re ready to get started, download our free interview guide on how to craft a social commerce strategy.

Social Commerce FAQs

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services directly within a social media platform. That means customers can make purchases without ever leaving their preferred social media app.

What is an example of social commerce?

An example of social commerce is adding product tags to its Instagram posts. People can click on those tags to find out more about the product and make a purchase.

Is social commerce the same as social media marketing?

No. Social media marketing involves promoting your brand and products through social media platforms. Meanwhile, social commerce involves making sales directly within social media. So while social commerce may benefit from social media marketing, the two are entirely different.