As e-commerce matures, social-commerce (s-commerce) is becoming a key sub-channel, allowing consumers to buy seamlessly through social media platforms. By integrating content-first strategies and leveraging advanced algorithms, brands can deliver personalised, product-rich experiences to users across demographics.
A core strength of social media lies in exploration and personalisation, where algorithms analyse user activity to deliver relevant, engaging content. This often includes product recommendations, creating a new kind of shopping experience. According to the Euromonitor Voice of the Consumer: Digital Survey, fielded February to March 2024, 66% of social media users have discovered a brand, product, or service through at least one platform.
Generational divides do shape how people engage with s-commerce, but social media’s integration into daily life is undeniable. Globally, 28% of social media users have made a purchase via s-commerce in 2024. This content-first shopping model contrasts with traditional search-first methods, where consumers actively seek products. Platforms like TikTok, with its ultra-personalised algorithm and short video format, excel at presenting users with products they didn’t know they wanted.
As s-commerce continues to grow, the next few years will determine its role in everyday shopping. While still an emerging channel, it’s clear that s-commerce has the potential to redefine purchasing decisions across generations, shaping the future of e-commerce. With the future of TikTok still undetermined in some markets, momentum may shift to other existing platforms, or leave room for another platform to evolve, leaving the future of this channel up in the air.
More about the Voice of the Consumer: Digital Survey
While the digital space becomes increasingly relevant for the consumer’s purchase in several industries, it is important for companies and brands to understand the key aspects of online purchase experiences, considering digital wallets, virtual and voice assistants, payment preferences and others.
To help businesses effectively, we worked with our in-house industry experts and analysts alongside key players within the industry to create the Digital Survey, which covers a wide array of topics and key trends in 40 countries.
Key questions the Voice of the Consumer: Digital Survey answers
• What motivates consumers to sign up for a loyalty or rewards programme?
• Are consumers comfortable about using voice assistants or AR/VR?
• How are consumers’ online purchases and habits evolving, by generation?
• How does consumers’ social media usage reflect on the purchase process?
• In the foodservice space, what are consumers’ preferences in third-party platforms?
Euromonitor International's Consumer Insights offering
Euromonitor designs consumer surveys in-house, using input from research experts and clients. Our offering includes nine annual Voice of the Consumer tracking surveys, which can be explored in the Survey dashboard and in the data download tool for in-depth analysis. These capabilities live in Passport, Euromonitor’s one-stop shop for industry, economies and consumer data. Connect with our team to learn more.
Learn more about navigating new channels in our report, Strategies for Navigating New Business Models, Channels and Shoppers.