About 5.7 million people aged 14 or more in Australia will purchase a retail item using a social network in 2021, according to eMarketer, which recently said this amounts to just over 30 per cent of all Internet users in the country—one of the highest rates in the world—and represents an 8.6 per cent rise over 2020 figures. The number of social commerce buyers in Australia increased by 17.9 per cent in 2020.
Like several other countries, Australia saw a boom in e-commerce sales last year (53 per cent growth) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.About 5.7 million people aged 14 or more in Australia will purchase a retail item using a social network in 2021, according to eMarketer, which said this amounts to just over 30 per cent of all Internet users in the country, and represents an 8.6 per cent rise over 2020 figures. The number of social commerce buyers in Australia rose by 17.9 per cent in 2020.#
Social commerce, which was already on the verge of becoming mainstream by 2019, came along for the ride. According to PayPal, spending by social commerce buyers in Australia increased five-fold last year.
Social commerce is defined as products or services ordered via social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, WeChat, Line and VK, either by buying directly on the social platform, such as via Instagram Checkout or WeChat Mini Programs, or through clicking links on the social network that lead to the retailer’s product page to complete the purchase.
After another healthy increase this year, eMarketer estimates that Australia will rank third in the world in terms of how many of its Internet users are embracing social commerce.
Retail media is one of the fastest-growing channels of digital ad investment. China and the United States lead the world in most social commerce metrics—often by wide margins—because of the scale of their markets and the early adoption of social commerce by their digital shoppers.
However, a handful of additional countries are beginning to stand out among the next tier, and Australia is at the top of that list, eMarketer said in a press release.
It forecast that 36.7 per cent of social network users in Australia will make at least one social purchase this year, one of the highest rates in the world. All told, more than a quarter of the population (26.8 per cent) will be spending via social commerce this year. Once again, only China and the US will exceed that number.
Facebook and Instagram are leading the charge for social commerce in Australia with Snap and Pinterest in a distant race for third. Most of Australia’s social buyers will engage with the channel via one of these four options.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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