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With TikTok鈥檚 US future up in the air after another sale-deadline extension, the latest player in the social media landscape is scrambling to differentiate itself and attract creators and users. A platform prioritizing community and authentic connections over virality could create a more supportive space for creators, but can it attract users?

Walmart looks to accelerate its ecommerce business in China: Working with Chinese delivery app Meituan should boost the retailer鈥檚 visibility and sales.

Our March 2024 US Social Commerce survey found that 39.4% of US social media users ages 15 to 77 had made a purchase from a creator or influencer-founded brand in the past 12 months. That figure rose to roughly two-thirds among both Gen Zers ages 15 to 26 (66.3%) and millennials ages 27 to 42 (63.1%). Social media is the starting point for creator merchandising.

In 2024, 24% cited sales pipeline growth as their top goal鈥攗p from 16% in 2023, according to a November 2024 Bizzabo survey. 2. Choose events for quality sales opportunities, not popularity. Prioritize events where your audience is active and past participation led to sourced opportunities, pipeline influence, or closed-won deals.

With TikTok facing potential US ban uncertainties, the platform's successful shopping integration has created both challenges and opportunities in the social commerce landscape. "TikTok really showed how social commerce can work in a new way in the US," our analyst Sky Canaves said on a recent episode of 鈥淏ehind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail.鈥�

Consumers dislike sales pitches, but affiliate marketing is a less aggressive, outcome-driven channel. While 41.3% of consumers find ads based on previous online activities "very intrusive," only 14.8% feel this way about exclusive discounts and coupons. Only 19.7% find affiliate text links intrusive, according to a July 2024 蘑菇AV survey.

Gen Z shoppers diverge from the general population in terms of where they find and buy products, consumers are still into influencer-driven ads, and live shopping hasn鈥檛 taken off yet. Here are five charts to help elevate your social commerce strategy.

But one-off or shorter-term partnerships can still be valuable, especially for brands that are working with a larger number of smaller creators to build a library of user-generated content or drive sales from a product launch. Focus on relevancy and authority to drive sales. In an age of 鈥渄e-influencing,鈥� it鈥檚 more important than ever for brands to work with the right creators.

While performance marketing drives immediate sales, D'Arcy emphasized the importance of not "performance marketing a brand to death." Their strategy includes significant investment in upper-funnel marketing through streaming video, streaming audio, and other brand-building channels.

But even when controlling for that, average performance declined across the board: sales (down 2.0%), revenues (down 0.8%), clicks (down 0.7%), and conversion rates (down 1.5%). US Q4 2023 revenues were flat or down for 10 of the 16 advertiser categories CJ tracks.

After its US launch in September, TikTok Shop faces its first holiday season, heating up competition in the social commerce space.

Alipay has expanded its merchant acceptance internationally through partners like Adyen, which made Alipay+ accepted at its point-of-sale (POS) terminals in the US and Europe.

And the early successes of creator-founded brands, like Emma Chamberlain鈥檚 coffee and Logan Paul and KSI鈥檚 sports drink Prime, show that creator involvement can also drive sales. What鈥檚 behind the growth in creator-founded brands? Logan Paul and KSI鈥檚 Prime is now one of the fastest-growing sports drink brands, generating over $250 million in sales in its first year.

Marketplace is what makes Facebook a leader in social commerce, which isn鈥檛 all good for Meta. On the one hand, it鈥檚 a helpful tool during an economic downturn; on the other, Meta has trouble actually profiting from these consumer-to-consumer sales. 3. What about brand participation? Brand participation in online resale has skyrocketed, according to thredUP.

The company鈥檚 sales fell sharply when it irked conservative-leaning consumers who decried its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as well as progressives who felt the beer maker didn鈥檛 offer enough support in the face of that backlash.

Raj Lala, vice president of demand sales and development at Vistar Media, said continuing to blend often-siloed performance and brand marketing tactics is a priority this year. 鈥淥ften the missing piece to a performance-focused campaign is a branding and awareness element,鈥� said Lala.

For marketers looking to prove the value of their influencer investments, affiliate deals are an easy way to drive lower-funnel goals because affiliate sales are attributable. Watch the full webinar. This was originally featured in the 蘑菇AV Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

Sales for home appliances and autos rose 22.2% YoY and 6.6% YoY, respectively, in November thanks to government subsidies. Those categories also performed well during Singles Day, Alibaba and JD.com said. Our take: China鈥檚 economic rough patch is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. We expect sales to rise just 3.5% in 2025 as consumer caution puts a considerable damper on growth.

鈥淓very dollar that you鈥檙e spending in this space is really going forward to a sale happening, which makes it a very efficient channel,鈥� said Gaffey. Diversify your affiliate partnerships with influencers, coupon sites, cashback platforms, and content publishers to reach different audience segments.

With competing summer shopping events such as Walmart+ Week encroaching on sales, it may be a sign that consumers are putting finding the best deals and discounts ahead of brand loyalty. 2. They are heavily swayed by influencers. The majority of US social media users across all ages have purchased a product on Amazon after seeing it used by an influencer, per March 2024 data by IZEA.

Bud Light鈥檚 case negatively impacted sales for a longer stretch of time because many of their consumers associate the brand with their identity, according to a March 2024 article by the Harvard Business Review. Bud Light鈥檚 lack of solidarity with Mulvaney during the backlash sparked criticism from the LGBTQ+ community.

Meta and Amazon are testing product sales inside Facebook and Instagram. Meta is the largest social commerce player, but it has struggled to get users to check out directly on its apps. The partnership with Amazon could help change that. Snapchat and Pinterest have also inked deals with Amazon. These partnerships could both boost their positions in the social commerce space and drive ad revenues.

If you want to learn how to get insights like these delivered to your inbox every day, and get access to our data-driven forecasts, reports, and industry benchmarks, schedule a demo with our sales team.

All proceeds from sales made from Kenneth Cole鈥檚 website from May 1 to 4 were donated to the Mental Health Coalition. Saks Fifth Avenue launched a campaign in collaboration with creator Emily DiDonato highlighting the influencer鈥檚 mental health tips. Saks donated 10% of the purchase price on website sales through May 11th to support the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation鈥檚 mental health strategy.

And if you think about sales that are generated from TikTok shops specifically, they tend to be unpredictable and volatile, even if they're really big for some creators or for some businesses. But most importantly, creators are smart and most of them aren't reliant on a single platform, whether that's TikTok or Instagram or YouTube.