Social e-commerce in the form of live shopping is on the rise in the United States, and for sellers, there is an opportunity to take advantage of an upswing in traffic.
According to eMarketer's latest forecast for the social commerce market, U.S. social commerce sales will grow 35.8% to $36.62 billion in 2021. This continues the high growth of social commerce in the past year -- and social commerce will explode in 2020 with a 38.9% increase in sales. This is largely due to a boom in e-commerce and increased consumption of social media as a result of the outbreak.
But even with that forecast, social commerce will still account for only 4.0% of the U.S. retail e-commerce market this year, compared with 13.7% in China. But it also means there is huge potential for growth in the U.S. social commerce market. Social commerce also has the potential to become a huge market in the United States, based solely on the number of consumers.
Facebook is the No. 1 social commerce platform in the United States, according to eMarketer. 22.3 percent of U.S. Internet users, or 56.1 million people age 14 and older, are expected to make at least one purchase on Facebook in 2021. Meanwhile, 12.9 percent of Internet users, or 32.4 million people, will make at least one purchase on Instagram. On Pinterest, the figure is 5.6%, or 13.9 million people.
As features expand and improve, live streaming is expected to be a major driver of social commerce growth. In China, the development of live streaming e-commerce has become increasingly mature, but in overseas markets such as the United States, live streaming e-commerce is still in its infancy. For example, social networking giant Facebook launched its "Live Shopping Fridays" in May this year.
Facebook's campaign has attracted brands such as Sephora, Abercrombie&Fitc, and Bobbi Brown. During the live broadcast, brands can cooperate with Redstars to display their products, and consumers can click on the video page to display the product details, and choose to directly place an order or add it to the shopping cart.
Social e-commerce in the form of live shopping is on the rise in the United States, and for sellers, there is an opportunity to take advantage of an upswing in traffic.
Some analysts believe that the development of social commerce in China can bring some lessons for the United States, including live shopping, also from China. But because consumers in the two countries have different behaviors and attitudes toward digital shopping, social media consumption, online privacy and payments, sellers cannot fully copy domestic experience.
Parcelfromchina
2021.7.13
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