As social media becomes an integral part of daily life for both businesses and consumers, it continues to evolve quickly. This briefing explores how changing consumer preferences, emerging technologies and generative AI are reshaping the social media landscape, creating new trends and opportunities. It also profiles key platforms, including Discord, Douyin, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Telegram, Threads, TikTok, WeChat, WhatsApp, X and YouTube.
This report comes in PPT.
Social media is now a core part of consumers’ lives, with 71% of global connected consumers engaging regularly. Beyond facilitating digital socialising, social media platforms serve as hubs for content, information and shopping. As consumers rely more on social platforms, their influence on purchasing decisions grows, making them a key touchpoint for businesses.
Brands and retailers are investing heavily in social commerce, making the purchasing process more seamless than ever with one-click retail, frictionless checkouts and shoppable videos. Social media platforms are no longer just places that influence buying decisions; they have become a shopping destinations in their own right, where transactions happen in real time.
As social media becomes more commercialised and AI-driven, consumers seek authentic connections in niche communities and with micro-influencers. In response, brands are shifting to genuine advocates, as micro-influencers offer higher engagement, cost efficiency and credibility.
The rise of the creator economy allows anyone to become an influencer, shaping trends and monetising content through platforms like Substack, Patreon and TikTok. As consumer voices grow stronger, businesses are shifting from traditional marketing to active engagement, collaborating with authentic creators to stay relevant in an increasingly decentralised digital landscape.
AI is transforming social media by enhancing efficiency and personalisation, but it also raises concerns about data privacy and misinformation. As consumers demand greater transparency and control, businesses and platforms are trying to balance innovation with trust and accountability to maintain credibility.
Tracks all sales of goods and services to the public via the internet. Consumer purchases through web platforms are attributed to the country in which the consumer is based, rather than where the merchant is based. Our definition is agnostic as to where the actual payment takes place. If an order is initiated online, we would consider that order to be an e-commerce transaction, even if the order is ultimately paid for in-store, with cash on delivery, by mail via postal cheque, or in person when turning in a ticket and associated payment at a designated ATM or branch facility. Our figures exclude consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales. Business-to-consumer sales (B2C) – in which the business is registered with the government and pays the appropriate taxes – are included. This includes B2C sales on marketplace platforms, which allow many merchants to sell on their website and process the transaction. While both businesses and consumers can sell through marketplaces, only B2C transactions are included in our coverage. Note that online sales from direct selling companies are excluded from our definition. As we are primarily concerned with tracking the importance of the direct selling model (and not where the final sale is made), all sales attributable to a direct selling company will fall into direct selling rather than E-Commerce. Credit or charge card bill payments, mortgages and other loan payments, money transfers, digital person-to-person payments, insurance payments and donations to charities and crowdfunding campaigns are excluded from Euromonitor’s coverage. For C2G transactions, consumer payments made to governments for direct consumption of services and utilities, excluding taxes, fines, and administrative fees, are included. This includes all online purchases made by a consumer to a business for either goods or services regardless of the device (PC, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) used to execute the transaction. It is subdivided into the following eight areas of E-Commerce: Retail, Foodservice, Travel, Mobility, Ticketed Entertainment, Streaming Services, Bill Payments and Other.
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