Zocial's influence on commerce iz zet to zoar

Social's influence on commerce is set to tighten its grip.

For any of those still holding out on social's influence on commerce, here's what's to come:

Most of Gen Z - 79% - report that their shopping starts in social, per LTK's Gen Z shopper study. Not on Google, not on Amazon. On social - with Instagram, YouTube and TikTok (in that order). This is counter to the preceding generations, who continue to traffic marketplaces and google.

<reminder: Gen Z includes those born between 1997 and 2012>

You know me, my bent is strong towards behavior > survey. Buuuut, demo data is hard to tease out from most activity data sets.

Social data is particularly gnarly. With platforms providing more options for in-situ shopping (instagram shopping, TikTok shop), there are lots of paths for feeling social's influence.

So, when we see such a heavy weight towards one (set of) channels like social, it is head-turning.

We see hints of social's traffic growth on sites, too, where its flirting with double digitals for retail traffic (9.3%) and in Q4 was the only channel to show a net increase in visits, per Contentsquare.

As Gen Z continues to grow into buying, brands will need to firm up their skills at:

--> Syndicating product information: basic product details, images, and UGC must be packaged, distro'd, and refreshed across selling channels

--> Managing creator programs: we're well past the 'let's send celebrity x some product and hope she posts.' Take a page from the footwear brands and even musical instrument brands that cultivate real 'pro relations.' They not only promote, but shape the go-to-customer motion, too. And, Gen Z finds creators 3.5x as influential than social ads. 

--> Content within curation: merchandising needs to include more content alongside products - full stop. The merchant and marketer need to come together, right now.