Social accounts for 1% of e-commerce in US

Being socially active does not necessarily reward retailers with custom, according to new data.

Using social media to speare a branded voice onto your target audience doesn’t put pounds in the till, suggests data from the e-tailing group which found that a credible social presence online delivered little e-commerce traffic.

More than a quarter of US omnichannel retailers said that less than 1% of traffic to their e-commerce sites came from social networks.

The data further revealed that 43% of US omnichannel retailers who were polled said that less than 1% of shoppers who came to their e=commerce site via a social network spent money.

Similar results from Custora showed that social accounted for just 1% of US e-commerce orders in Q1 2014 – further evident of socials influencer over commerce.

However, data like this should be taken with a contextual pinch of salt – social presence is an invaluable and intangible element of a brands public voice. Being seen and being heard are important for brands, social networks represent causal gateway into a specific segment to your audience.