Social Commerce: Facebook Is the Most Used Social Media Site for Online Shopping in 2024

Social Commerce Usage in 2024: Key Insights

• Uneven Adoption Across World Regions: While social commerce is most often used in Southeast Asia, consumers in other regions tend to be cautious of selling and/or buying products on social platforms. This is due to the high prevalence of scams and potentially fraudulent offers.

• Most Popular Social Commerce Platforms in the World: Meta Platforms Facebook and Instagram are taking the lead, with other platforms such as TikTok and YouTube following further behind.

Social commerce is a controversial type of online shopping: Some consumers swear on it to find the best deals, others worry they may be scammed. DHL surveyed 24,000 consumers across 24 countries to assess which social media platforms are most frequently used for online shopping. This 2024 E-Commerce Trends Report tells us about regional trends and consumer preferences in social commerce.

Facebook Is the Most Used Social Commerce Platform

The survey results show that Facebook is leading the pack, being used by 37% of consumers worldwide. Instagram, which belongs to Meta Platforms together with Facebook, is the second most used social commerce site, with 28% of global consumers saying they have purchased from it.

Third rank is TikTok, with an 18% usage share. Considering that TikTok Shop is not yet available for usage in every country, the share leaves some room to catch up with the first two rankings over time. YouTube follows in fourth place with 16%, not far behind TikTok. 

With lower adoption rates in the lower rankings are Pinterest (7%) and Snapchat (6%). Pinterest is an image board to discover and post various kinds of aesthetics, products and information to share inspiration across a diversity of interests. While eCommerce sites and businesses tend to use Pinterest for promotional purposes, its Pinterest Shopping feature lags behind the leading platforms. Similarly, Snapchat’s shopping feature is not highly frequented. This correlates to the rather young audience age of Snapchat users, who in turn are not the most spending-intensive customer base.

However, as these are global figures, keep in mind that social commerce usage tends to diverge significantly between world regions. Countries in Southeast Asia therefore tend to use social commerce the most. While 1 in 2 people have made a purchase on social media overall, in Thailand the share jumps to 9 out of 10 users. Of those, TikTok is the most popular platform to shop online.

Sources: DHL