Consumer interest in social commerce is waning, but brands are advised to persevere

How social media pilot platforms introduce new trading features, consumer interest in using them has declined.

In 2023, fewer consumers reported using social media for inspiration, research or to make a purchase compared to 2021. Gartnerwhich highlighted the platforms’ lack of live chat, Q&A and personalization features as key challenges compared to brand websites.

Just 5% of consumers said they made purchases through their personal social media channels in 2023, a decline of 5 percentage points, and just 7% said they made purchases through a brand’s social media page, a decline of 4 percentage points.

What’s more, just 8% said they found inspiration from their personal social media channels in 2023, down 8 percentage points from 2021.

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