Social Shopping Is on the Rise—and It’s Not Just Gen Z

Shoppers of all ages are buying products through social apps, gaming platforms, and livestreams, according to new data from Horizon Media, exclusively shared with ADWEEK.

TikTok’s popularity among younger audiences, and the buzz around TikTok Shop, has spurred the notion that it’s Gen Zers who are most likely to shop via social platforms. According to the research, though, it’s actually Millennials who are most likely to frequently buy this way—and Gen X isn’t far behind.

“It’s a paradigm shift,” said George Musi, chief business officer at Night Market, Horizon Media’s commerce arm. “The notion of going from a browser to a shopper, a shopper to a buyer, buyer to consumer, consumer to a loyalist—it has not only condensed that space, but it has broken all barriers as it relates to how people make decisions.”

What is social shopping, anyway?

Horizon Media defines social shopping as purchasing products while engaged with content on social media or gaming platforms, including TikTok Shop, Instagram shoppable posts, YouTube’s “click to buy” links, and brand storefronts in virtual or game environments like Roblox and Fortnite. That’s in contrast to how it defines online shopping, which is going to Amazon or a retailer’s website with the intent to buy a product.

The report is based on a spring survey from The Why Group of 1,000 U.S. adults, roughly half of which had made purchases via social commerce avenues like social media, gaming, or augmented reality, or virtual reality platforms.

Social shopping could cut into traditional online shopping via websites or retail apps as it continues to gain momentum across age categories, according to the report. Nearly three-quarters of social shoppers, those who have made purchases via social platforms, said that social shopping could replace some of their online shopping.

Barriers to social shopping

In terms of older generations partaking in more social shopping, the barriers are “very thin,” said Pam Wake, vice president of The Why Group, Horizon Media’s market research arm. “[Those barriers are] all things that can be easily overcome.”

Holding people back from purchasing on social are reasons like a fear of scams, lack of trust, lack of data safety, uncertainty of product quality, or false reviews. Many of those concerns can be addressed with verified shops, owned pages, or trusted partners, noted Wake.

And while less than 25% of respondents said they trust social media platforms, over 75% said they still use them.

Social shoppers also said they see social platforms as an opportunity to both support small businesses and buy brand-name items. Over half of social shoppers said their purchases were brand-name products, with Millennials as most likely to buy those items.

Of all respondents, not just those who had purchased via social commerce, 59% said they saw social shopping as an opportunity to support small businesses. That rises to 66% in social shoppers.

While apparel, personal care, beauty, and electronics are the most popular product categories among social shoppers, that differs by age. Among Gen Z, the top categories were apparel, personal care, and beauty; among Millennials, it was apparel, electronics, and personal care; and among Gen X, it was apparel, beauty, and then personal care.