Bob Hutchins
Social media and ecommerce have enjoyed a close bond for at least six or seven years. That much is certain. And while you may argue the fine points of selling through social media, it’s simply not possible to altogether write-off the value of social media as a tool for selling.
A new infographic from Search Laboratory brings some perspective to just how tight social media and ecommerce are. I’ve reposed the full infographic below. I’d love to hear what statistics jump out at you.
Social Media & Ecommerce Highlights
First, let’s look at a quick breakdown of American consumers:
- 84% of American adults use the internet daily, which is actually lower than the U.K. (84.1%) and Australia (89.8%).
- 9 in 10 have a mobile phone.
- 6 in 10 have a smartphone.
- 4 in 10 have a tablet.
Mobile Sales To Increase Dramatically
We all recognize that mobile usage is on the rise. But this report drives the idea home, predicting that by 2017, mobile sales will account for 26% of all U.S. ecommerce. Already, 1 in 5 ecommerce sales are made on a mobile device.
By 2018, mobile sales will hit $ 133 billion per year. And today, nearly 6 out of 10 U.S. department stores are optimized for mobile.
Current Ecommerce Figures, Social Media & More
Search Laboratory projects $ 492 billion in U.S. online retail sales by 2018. (Currently, U.S. retailers are selling $ 304 billion per year.) Where does social media fit into the ecommerce picture? It’s all about trust and visual content. (Seventy-one percent of consumers “are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media.”)
While visually strong social networks like Snapchat, Tumblr, and Pinterest saw the most dramatic growth in 2014, the majority of social-generated sales (3 out of 4) are coming from Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
This is one point that requires a deeper level of discussion. It’s my hunch that Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest aren’t leading the way in sales because of their actual value; rather, they owe their advantage to, one, their reach (they are the largest networks, after all), and, two, their ease of integration with the wider web.
In comparison to the Big Three, visually powered networks like Snapchat and Instagram offer virtually nothing to help marketers track the relationship between social media and sales. Instagram is still in its advertising infancy – Snapchat even more so. As the back-end/analytic offerings of these platforms develop in 2015, we may see marketers leaving Facebook’s lousy organic reach in droves this year.
Social Media & Ecommerce Infographic
What stands out to you in the infographic below? Will this information change your plan for selling through social media this year?
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