If you’ve been scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, you’ve probably noticed that shopping is happening everywhere. Products pop up in your feed, in short videos and even in live streams—and before you know it, you’re adding them to your cart without leaving the app. This is what we mean when we talk about social commerce trends, and these trends are reshaping how consumers discover, engage with and buy products.
Social Commerce Is Exploding
The numbers speak for themselves. Studies show that 1 in 3 young people now shop on social media every week, with TikTok Shop sales reaching $19 billion in Q3 2025. This growth shows no signs of slowing, with social commerce expected to become a $1 trillion industry by 2028.
With more users buying directly through social platforms, scrolling and shopping are blending into one seamless experience. Social media is no longer solely about the likes and shares—it’s becoming a powerful channel for in-platform conversions.
Mobile First
It probably won’t come as a surprise that mobile devices dominate social commerce. In fact, 78% of all retail website visits in Britain come from smartphones, and 91% of social commerce happens on smartphones. Whether it’s while waiting for a coffee, on the sofa after work or during the commute to work, people are scrolling—and buying—constantly.
Social media users rely on social platforms to research and compare products before making a purchase, meaning a mobile-first approach is essential for brands.
Where the Shopping Happens
Research from Social Pulse shows how each social platform drives shopping in its own way. Instagram Shopping leads the pack, delivering 32% higher conversion rates than traditional e-commerce traffic through shoppable posts and Reels.
TikTok Shop, on the other hand, is one of the fastest-growing players, with 40% month-on-month growth in sales. Its short-form video format and live shopping features make it easy for brands to capture attention and drive impulse purchases in a highly interactive way.
Facebook Marketplace, one of the first platforms to introduce social commerce, accounts for 25% of all social commerce transactions, while Pinterest Shopping stands out for intent—its product pins show 85% higher purchase intent than other platforms, turning inspiration into action.
Together, these platforms show that social commerce is about seamless discovery and conversion across multiple channels.
Influencers Still Matter
People trust people. 69% of consumers rely on influencer recommendations when making purchase decisions. That means a creator showing your product in a natural, relatable way can convert more effectively than a polished ad.
This is a key part of social commerce trends—for example, a TikTok video might feature a creator wearing an outfit you love, with each item linked directly in TikTok Shop, ready to buy with just a single click.
How Social Commerce Trends Change the Journey
Traditional shopping funnels are out the window. Social commerce combines discovery, engagement and purchase into a single, frictionless flow. You might open Instagram just to scroll and end up buying a new skincare product because a video caught your eye. The path from “seeing” to “buying” is shorter, faster and often impulsive—but still in a considered way, driven by relevance and authenticity.
For brands, this means content needs to do more than look nice. It has to show real-life use, create trust and make the buying decision feel easy.
What Brands Should Do Next
If your brand hasn’t yet embraced social commerce, now is the time. Start by building authentic creator partnerships, ensuring your content is optimised for mobile and using in-app shopping features like shoppable posts to remove friction.
Social commerce doesn’t need to replace your other channels, but it complements them by creating a more connected, immediate and engaging way to reach consumers. Brands that get this right will capture attention, drive sales and build lasting relationships in a digital-first world.
Want to learn more about how shopping is changing in a digital world? Check out our blog on The Evolution of Black Friday.
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Sources
Blog Cover Image: Deagreez/istockphoto.com
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/social-commerce
https://blog.promocode.me.uk/what-percentage-of-online-shopping-is-mobile-in-the-uk
https://www.slicktext.com/blog/2021/06/social-media-influencer-statistics-survey/
