The Bazaarvoice blog recently reported on a new survey conducted by Influenster showing how shopping behaviors have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when it comes to social selling in the North American (NA) market.
Customers are scrolling and shopping—54% of NA survey respondents say they’d shop on social media. Of those who actually prefer social shopping, 84% shop from Instagram (I must admit I do too). The next most popular shopping platform is Facebook, but Bazaarvoice points out all social channels “have the power to influence a customer to [make a] purchase.”
Recommendations from friends and family have a big influence on social buying—73% of NA respondents agree or strongly agree that social media posts from their friends and family advocating a business or product influence their decisions to consider buying, and 70% say it influences purchase decisions.
What’s more, consumers say social media is the primary way they get information about a business and its products, coming in ahead of the company’s website and email. About 74% of those responding to the survey say they check out a company’s social media pages before making a purchase. And 62% agree or strongly agree a company’s social media presence influences their decision to purchase.
But, Bazaarvoice warns, don’t make social media the sole focus of your digital strategy. Search engine optimization (SEO) is key, since 79% of survey respondents say they always or sometimes go to a search engine (Google or Bing) when they start shopping online.
Social media shopping stock photo by tanuha2001/Shutterstock
