What to Know:
- Social commerce is expected to top $100 billion in U.S. sales this year.
- Creators can earn commissions when followers buy products they recommend.
- Where you complete the purchase matters – particularly if something goes wrong.
ORLANDO, Fla. – See it. Want it. Tap it. Buy it. Welcome to shopping in 2026. That may not sound too different from how consumers have been shopping online for years; what’s different now is where your shopping starts.
For years, social media helped companies sell products by showcasing them and then sending you somewhere else. Click the ad. Visit the retailer’s website. Find the product. Add it to your cart. Check out.
Yeah, we’re done with that.
Like online banking, online dating, and online entertainment, online shopping is evolving at lightning speed. Social media is no longer the platform to tease the product – social commerce can now instantly turn you from a browser to a buyer.
And Americans are doing a lot of buying.
Globally, there are an estimated 5.24 billion social media user identities, equivalent to almost 64% of the world’s population. U.S. social-commerce sales are expected to top $100 billion this year, up from just $56 billion in 2023, turning something that began largely as another form of advertising into a significant part of the retail economy.
But there’s an important difference between social commerce and much of the online shopping that came before it: when you search Amazon for a vacuum cleaner, chances are you already decided you need a vacuum cleaner. With social commerce, you may have had no intention of buying something – until suddenly, you’re ready to check out.
From Scroll to Sale
While retailers have used social media to get your attention before a purchase, social commerce is designed to shorten the distance between seeing something you want and actually buying it. One industry estimate forecasts that by 2029, almost 9% of ALL U.S. ecommerce sales could originate from social media platforms.
On four of the biggest social media platforms – TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube – the line between watching and shopping is becoming increasingly difficult to define. Products can appear in videos, livestreams, and posts, with links that allow you to go from discovering something to buying it in just a few taps.
Take TikTok Shop as an example.
You’re scrolling through videos when you come across a creator demonstrating a product. A link embedded in the video lets you tap on the item, see the price and product information, add it to your cart, and make the purchase – all without the traditional detour of searching for the product on a retailer’s website. If you happen to catch the event live, you could score an additional discount.
The impulse buy has gone from accidental to engineered, and TikTok isn’t alone.
Instagram and Facebook allow businesses and creators to tag products in posts, Reels, and other content, while YouTube Shopping allows creators to feature products directly in videos, Shorts, and livestreams through their affiliate program.
In some cases, much of the shopping experience happens within the social media platform, while in others, tapping a product ultimately sends you to a retailer or another website to complete the purchase.
For consumers, that convenience can also eliminate something that has traditionally been part of shopping: time to think. Why? Because the goal is very simple: remove as many steps as possible between “I like that” and “I bought that.”
A product you didn’t know existed a minute ago can suddenly be sitting in your shopping cart – and it’s usually not by accident. Behind that impulse purchase is an increasingly sophisticated sales strategy, often driven by social media personalities. And make no mistake: these influencers often have a financial incentive to convince you to buy.
Your Favorite Influencer May Also Be a Digital Salesperson
Social media affiliate marketing has become a major part of social commerce. Creators can promote products through links embedded in their posts and videos and earn a commission when someone makes a purchase. Influencers are doing just that: influencing you to buy a product (so they get paid).
On TikTok Shop, sellers can offer creators and influencers commissions ranging from 1% to as much as 80% on products sold through their content. Sellers can also offer higher commissions to particular people they want promoting their products. Last year, TikTok Shop accounted for more than 18% of all U.S. social commerce.
YouTube works similarly: merchants set commission rates for products – Google says the median commission has been around 15%. Content creators can browse available products and sellers, see what they pay, and even sort offers by the highest commission.
Think about what that means.
An influencer deciding which product to feature isn’t necessarily choosing the item based solely on which one they like best. One product may pay the influencer considerably more than another if you buy it.
That doesn’t make the recommendation dishonest, but it does make the financial relationship important. Why? Because a glowing review from someone who bought a product with their own money is different from a review coming from someone who received the product for free – or earns a percentage every time a viewer taps “buy.”
And there’s another problem: while influencers may know exactly how much they stand to make from a sale, the people watching their videos may not even realize there’s money involved. That’s where the Federal Trade Commission comes in.
The FTC requires social media personalities to clearly disclose financial relationships and other material connections with companies whose products they’re promoting when those relationships aren’t otherwise obvious to consumers.
And simply labeling something an “affiliate link” may not be enough: consumers should be able to easily understand the creator has a financial relationship with the seller without hunting for information buried at the bottom of a post, hidden behind a “more” button, or lost in a string of hashtags.
Shopping Without Looking for Anything
Researchers have found that the combination of social media and shopping can encourage impulse buying, with algorithms that put products in front of potential buyers making purchasing those items even more tempting. Online platforms provide a low-barrier gateway from seeing a product to buying it, and the faster the process gets, the fewer opportunities you have to reconsider.
- Trust: You already know, follow, or feel a connection with the person recommending the product.
- Social proof: Other people are watching, commenting, buying, reviewing, or endorsing it.
- Urgency and scarcity: The price, deal, or product may not be available if you wait.
Put those three factors together and you have a powerful combination: someone you trust recommending a product, other people apparently buying it, and the possibility of missing out if you don’t act quickly.
And with the checkout button just a tap away, there’s little standing between the sales pitch and the purchase.
But Before You Tap “Buy”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with shopping through social media. It can be convenient, introduce you to products you might never have discovered, and sometimes offer legitimate discounts.
But convenience shouldn’t replace caution.
Before buying something you discovered on social media, take a moment to do an internet search for the product. Look for other retailers, check reviews, compare prices, and find out who is actually selling it.
That last point matters because buying through an established platform’s shopping system isn’t necessarily the same as clicking an advertisement that takes you to an unfamiliar website. The seller, return policy, and available purchase protections may be different.
And if a creator is enthusiastically recommending something, remember to ask whether they’re getting paid if you buy it.
Social commerce is designed to make shopping feel effortless. But sometimes, a little effort before buying can save you money and headaches afterward.
You may have gone online to be entertained. A few taps later, you’re a customer.