The rise of social media shopping
Anyone else guilty of a little social media doom scrolling?
How have your shopping behaviours changed over the last two years? At SOTM, we’ve noticed a seismic shift in the way we shop and the biggest change - thanks to the virus that shall not be named - is a move to making the majority of our purchases online, instead of in-store.
As it turns out, we weren’t the only ones who made the switch.
New research from FIS Global ‘Worldpay from FIS’ Generation Pay research’ has found that droves of Australians have become online shoppers and there are two obvious reasons why. The first is of course that bricks and mortar shops have been closed so we haven’t been able to shop in-store if we wanted to and the second is due to the increased amount of time we’ve all spent on social media – guilty.
Our increased time on socials has in turn led to an increase in social media shopping and this research from FIS found that the most popular platform to purchase from in Australia is Facebook (73%), followed by Instagram (39%) and then YouTube (19%).
They also found exactly what people are buying. Home décor, homewares and home improvements resulted in the most purchases on social media in the last 12 months (43%), with almost half of females (46%) buying these items via social media in the last year.
For us, this definitely adds up. As our homes became our whole worlds, we began to nest and make our spaces as warm and comforting as they could be, a refuge from the unpredictability of the outside world. Did you find the same thing? What patterns of purchasing behaviour did you notice in yourself?
The research also found some interesting stats in relation to generational differences. Millennials enjoy the speed and convenience of online social shopping far more than any other generation, in part due to our proficiency with technology and our understanding and trust in online payment security. Older generations like the baby boomers much prefer paper and plastic to digital, and very few are early adopters of payments technology. To learn more about each generation and their behaviours, we’d strongly recommend taking some time to flick through the research.
As things return to ‘normal’ with stores reopening and an increased ability to move freely about the place, what will become of social shopping? And what is the future of shopping in general?
Well, it seems like social shopping is here to stay and one of the biggest developments in this space is an experience called ‘live-stream shopping’, which is currently huge in Asia. Live-stream shopping connects potential customers with a trusted influencer, who spruiks a product and answers questions in real time, emulating the personable experience of shopping in-store. It’s a trend that grew rapidly during the last couple of years of lockdowns and is expected to take off in Aus in a very serious way.
So, is in-store shopping over? Not quite. The research says the future of retail in a post-COVID landscape will see consumers dabbling in both online and in-store shopping experiences, united by a sustainable omnichannel (multi-faceted) strategy that will connect both experiences.
Before we move into a new year, we encourage you to have a think back on how the last couple of years have changed you both on a personal level and a financial level. Are there purchasing behaviours you need to be more conscious of? Have you saved more by not having access to the stores or have you spent more than in a typical year? Taking time to reflecting and take stock of where you can make improvements is a great way to move into the new year with purpose and a plan.
Keen to learn more about our shopping behaviours and how the future looks? Dive into the latest Worldpay from FIS’ Generation Pay research findings below for key insights about social shopping in Australia here!