Dive Brief:
- Consumers are open to discovering products and services on a plethora of channels globally, but they tend to purchase items in the channels they trust, according to an ESW report released in June. ESW conducted online interviews with 23,000 shoppers across 18 markets.
- For example, 62% of consumers say they are influenced by social platforms, but only 6% prefer to buy there.
- Nearly one-third of consumers prefer purchasing on brand or retailer websites. In the U.S., 37% prefer purchasing on brand websites, and among baby boomers, that rises to 52%.
Dive Insight:
Social media has become the top channel through which customers find new products, but as trust in those checkout platforms remain elusive, it’s creating a fragmented customer journey.
About half of consumers discover new products on social media. That rate rises among Gen Z, with three-quarters using social for discovery. In comparison, only 38% of global shoppers find new items through search engines and 36% through physical stores.
Trust limits purchases, however. In the U.S., about one-quarter of consumers trust social commerce checkout experiences.
“U.S. consumers are willing to embrace new ways of discovering products and finding value,” ESW CEO Eric Eichmann said in a prepared statement. “Nearly half are comfortable using AI for price comparison and 45% discover products through social media, but confidence drops sharply when those experiences move closer to checkout and payment.”
Companies need to design for fragmented commerce journeys, ESW says. A customer might discover an item on Instagram, validate the quality or price on a third-party review site or AI tool, and then purchase from a trusted platform.
With such a handoff, any friction can risk the consumer walking away. Businesses can build confidence with clear pricing, payment options the consumer is familiar with and a buying environment that feels secure, according to ESW.
