Social shopping rises with fashion and beauty top buys

25 Jul 2024

Almost half (47%) of UK consumers now shop on social media at least once a month. And that means there’s good news for fashion as 53% of purchases are for clothing, followed by beauty and skincare (34%) and gifts (34%).

That’s the finding of research and insights firm UserTesting which surveyed 1,000 Britons about their social media use and shopping habits.

Unsurprisingly, social media shopping’s on the rise with 20% of Britons who use social media also shopping there for products at least once a week.

Some 34% of respondents rely on social media to see how products perform in real-world scenarios, and 24% use it for purchase inspiration.

Social media also serves multiple roles in the customer journey, with users reading product reviews (18%) and researching products (19%) on these platforms. Some 28% also find this shopping channel more convenient than other methods.

Consumers are “highly influenced” by others’ use of products on social media with a 33% of UK respondents more likely to purchase something after seeing it used by others. Livestreams are particularly impactful, with 86% of Britons who watch livestreams o this channel saying they’re more likely to buy a product showcased this way.