More U.K. consumers are turning to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to do their shopping as a way to get around protracted pandemic-related retail store closures across Europe, new research shows. According to research from Mastercard, 43 percent of respondents said they are “social shopping” more now than a year ago.
“As the majority of retailers have transitioned to digital, social media shopping has grown significantly in the U.K. and marks a new environment for consumers to benefit from live recommendations from their [favorite] influencers, community and brands,” Janne Karppinen, vice president, merchant development UK&I at Mastercard, said in the release.
Instagram appeared to be the favorite destination of U.K. social shoppers, with 92 percent of consumers saying they had purchased products there compared to 39 percent who had bought goods via Facebook, 22 percent on YouTube and 20 percent on TikTok.
Twenty-eight percent of U.K. consumers opted to shop through social media due to the fact that they can pay at the “click of a button.” To that end, nearly half – or 48 percent – of Gen Zs harness use wallets to checkout. “Entering card details remains popular with older shoppers, with 41 percent of Baby Boomers opting for this traditional method,” according to the release.
Shopping for attire and fashion comprised 41 percent of purchases via social media, while beauty comprised 24 percent and housewares comprised 23 percent.
The U.K. social shopping surge comes as Walmart announced on March 9 that it was “doubling down” on its use of the short video social media platform TikTok. After dipping its toe in the waters of what it refers to as “the fastest-growing digital community,” the retailer discovered that its use of streaming retail was not just a trendy move, but a lucrative one as well.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
Walmart CMO William White wrote in a blog post that the company brought a shoppable livestream experience to U.S. TikTok users for the first time back in December. “The TikTok community enjoyed shopping while engaging with their favorite creators,” White wrote, pointing out that the firm netted seven times more views than expected and expanded its base of TikTok followers by 25 percent. “With that kind of demand and positive response, we’re going to give TikTok users more of what they want.”
