The figures show that only 10% of consumers say they avoid brands’ social media pages and 90% of consumers being aware of brand pages/accounts on social media it's obvious that the opportunity for engagement is huge.

It's true that consumers are increasingly curious about social commerce, but barriers such as data security and shipping hold some back from participating. 

38% of consumers say that the lack of trust in the security of their payment information is the reason they haven’t made a purchase directly on a social media platform with 23% saying it’s because they are worried they will never receive their purchase. 

Education on social commerce is still needed.

Katie Hansen, retail and e-commerce Analyst at Mintel recently commented that “Social commerce is the next evolution of eCommerce and as with the adoption of online shopping, it will take time for consumers to become comfortable purchasing items via social media, and even more time for them to do so on any kind of regular basis. But the category will see a boost as a result of increasing engagement from younger consumers as they grow into adulthood and earn more money."

She continued, "That said, social commerce will in no way replace traditional eCommerce or in-store shopping, but it will become a key part of their shopping repertoire.”

It's almost a given that Social commerce will become a big thing as the generation and the one after that participate even more with online purchasing. Bring AI and predictive modelling into the equation too and Social commerce will, I believe, be bigger than most people anticipate.