Number of U.S. social buyers 2021-2027

In 2023, the United States was home to an estimated 106.8 million social buyers. By 2027, this figure is forecast to grow by almost 10.6 percent, with over 118 million U.S. Americans expected to make purchases through social networks.

Social channels are the new shopping hubs

Social networks, known for producing the 'feel-good hormone' oxytocin and having a broad reach across the population, are redefining online shopping. In the United States, this channel is projected to account for an increasing share of online retail sales in the coming years. As of 2022, approximately 19 percent of U.S. online users who made purchases on a social media platform did so on Facebook, while 12 percent used Instagram.

China remains the social commerce powerhouse

Responsible for almost half of the world's online retail sales, China leads the way in e-commerce. As such, innovation has been the order of the day, bringing Chinese companies to strongly embrace new trends such as social commerce. According to estimates, China's social commerce gross merchandise value was set to reach 2.5 trillion yuan (approximately 398 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021. That year, sales through social media made up about 14.3 percent of the total online sales value in the Asian country, a figure that is expected to keep growing steadily over the next few years.