Facebook Is Most Trusted eCommerce Login: For Now

Social logins gained prominence as a solution that could eliminate consumer frustration and shopping cart abandonment, and because of its success of these fronts, it has grown in popularity with consumers and merchants over the past few years.

A 2012 study conducted by social management platform Janrain found that 41 percent of consumers said they preferred using a social login to creating a new user account or using a guest account.

While consumers are clear in their desire for this option, eCommerce businesses still need select social media networks that, once integrated to their sites, will help them boost their performance. Now, a new Gigya study is helping merchants clarify this decision.

On July 18, the social login provider released the results of its latest report entitled “The Landscape of Social Login and Sharing.” The study surveyed all Gigya clients from April through June of 2013 in an attempt to discern how consumers are using their social identities to access web and mobile devices.

Facebook was revealed to be the clear major player, accounting for half of all social shares during the study period. However, the data reveals that Facebook has weaknesses that could help its competitors gain market share.

In this PYMNTS.com Data Point, we’ll break down the findings so that you can determine how to form your company’s social login strategy going forward.

Facebook Is King For eCommerce Logins

In total, 79 percent of Gigya clients said they preferred logging into an eCommerce website with Facebook. Google+ was the next biggest player, capturing 12 percent of the responses. Twitter, Yahoo and LinkedIn came in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.

However, Facebook’s top dog status may not be guaranteed in the coming years. The researchers noted that with increased Google Wallet adoption, Google+ could become a larger player in this space.

Facebook Has A Lock On Consumer Brand And Travel Logins

Google+’s emerging player status was further confirmed by the strong market share it held for social logins in some key eCommerce categories. Twenty-two percent of Gigya clients logged into consumer brand websites, and 26 percent logged into travel or hospitality sites with the service.

Yahoo placed third in both categories, with 5 percent of respondents saying they used the search provider’s login for consumer brand sites and 9 percent saying they did so for travel.

Facebook was once again the clear leader, accounting for 67 percent of consumer brand logins, and 57 percent of travel and hospitality logins.

Conversions Are Facebook’s eCommerce Weakness

Gigya found that when it came to sharing, Pinterest was the preferred login, suggesting what the researchers called its increasing value for online retailers. Forty-one percent of respondents preferred sharing eCommerce links via Pinterest, while 37 percent preferred to do so with Facebook. Twitter placed third with 17 percent of the responses. Google+ was far and away the fourth player with just 2 percent of the vote.

Research shows that Pinterest has shown a propensity for fueling purchases. In 2012, real-time marketing provider SteelHouse found that Pinterest users were 79 percent more likely to purchase a pinned item than a product posted on Facebook. Likewise, Shopify found that shoppers directed from Pinterest are 10 percent more likely to make a purchase.

These results suggest it may not be long until Pinterest is playing an even bigger role in all aspects of the eCommerce social login space.

For more insights, view the full report here.