Study: Online shoppers in tune with social media ads

5/6/2019
Social media ads are influencing more and more purchases.

That’s according to a study by Episerver which revealed that 63% of online shoppers have clicked on a social media ad with 33% of them making a direct purchase as a result. The survey also found that the number of consumers indicating they conduct research with voice-assisted devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home has increased 83% year over year according to Episerver.

Episerver's third-annual “Reimagining Commerce” report, which surveyed more than 4,500 online shoppers in eight countries, found that consumers are shopping and purchasing more on voice, but security concerns prevail. While 17% of online shoppers make multiple voice purchases a month or more frequently (versus 11% in 2017), 43% of consumers cite a lack of security features as the number one reason they won't make more purchases via voice-enabled devices this year, – followed by a lack of product images (35%) and difficulty comparing products (33%).

"Where voice commerce currently lacks, social commerce excels," said Ed Kennedy, senior director of commerce at Episerver. "Our data indicates social media drives purchases and has massive sway over younger consumers. It has evolved from networks' early testing of primitive 'buy now' buttons to a native part of people's everyday lives in which scrolling quickly turns into shopping. Retailers looking to prioritize efforts for the remainder of the year need to look at what is currently working and who is helping drive awareness and ultimately purchases."

In other report findings, half of online shoppers (52%) who use social media have clicked on an influencer's post, and a third of those shoppers (31%) have made a direct purchase from the post. Twelve percent of shoppers are using social media inspiration when they do not have a specific product in mind for purchase compared to a brand's website (11%).
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