Philadelphia, PA—A new survey released by Curalate highlights how social media content is becoming the new storefront. According to the research firm, 76% of U.S. consumers purchased a product they discovered in a brand’s social media post.
The 2017 Curalate Consumer Survey also found that 40% of U.S. consumers shop online at least once per week. Moreover, that number rises to 52% for 18–34 year olds. “Given that consumers spend more time on social media than any other online activity, this new survey offers new insights into the growing and changing role played by social in digital commerce,” the company noted.
Furthermore, based on the survey findings, Curalate asserts that product discovery happens across all social media channels. They believe this illustrates the need for brands to create compelling content for each channel.
The survey found that more consumers in general discover products on Facebook than any other channel.
In addition, younger consumers are much more likely to discover products across the whole range of social channels. According to the Curalate survey:
• 18–34-year-old consumers are 3.3 times more likely to discover products on Instagram than U.S. consumers on the whole.
• Younger consumers are 3 times more likely to discover products on Snapchat; 2.7 times more likely on Pinterest; and twice as likely on Twitter.
Curalate asserts that the data presented in its report highlights an evolution taking place in digital commerce. Traditionally e-commerce has been rooted in consumers searching for products they wanted. But today, Curalate believes content posted on social media causes consumers to stop scrolling and ask ‘what’s that?’ Thus creating moments of discovery that represent a huge opportunity for e-commerce.
“With billions of people inhabiting social networks, the content they thumb through has the potential of setting in motion a journey that leads from discovery to purchase,” said Curalate CEO Apu Gupta. “Creating those moments of discovery represents a massive opportunity for e-commerce to go beyond search and to introduce people to their next great find.”
However, while social media content may spark inspiration, that inspiration can sometimes turn to frustration for many online shoppers. For example, 65% of the respondents report being taken to a product they weren’t interested in after clicking on a link in a social media post. Often the specific product the brand links to is not the one that caught the consumer’s eye.
Curalate’s data shows that when given the opportunity to shop all of the products in a particular post, consumers browse longer and spend more. They will also do this in the case of recommended products.
Additional Survey Findings
Other key takeaways from the Curalate survey follow.
• It’s not just younger people shopping through social. Nearly 60% of 35–65 year olds have purchased something they discovered on a social channel.
• 50% of consumers say user-generated content is the leading factor that would make them purchase through a brand’s social media channels.
• 85% of daily online shoppers say that an easy payment system with their information already stored (like Amazon Pay) would make them more likely to shop through social media.
Curalate
Curalate is a marketing technology company that helps enable brands to sell online more effectively. The Curalate Discovery-Driven Commerce Platform is in use by 800+ of the world’s most loved brands, including Urban Outfitters, Neiman Marcus, Sephora and J.Crew. curalate.com
