eMarketer: More than 115 million people in the U.S. will shop on their smartphones in 2019

Social networks represent only a small portion of e-commerce referrals, but their role in the path to purchase is growing. As a last-touch channel, social network share of visits has doubled in the past two years. According to Adobe Digital Insights data from the first quarter of 2019, the vast majority of social network referrals come from smartphones.

Two trends explain why 70.5% of social recommendations in the U.S. come from smartphones: consumers are becoming more and more accustomed to mobile shopping; and mobile has become central to social network users.

eMarketer estimates that by 2019, more than 115 million people in the U.S. will have made at least one purchase on their smartphone, representing 58.9% of all online consumers in the U.S. Even more Americans use their smartphones to browse, research or compare products (193 million).

According to Adobe Digital Insights, Facebook drives by far the most e-commerce referrals (80.4%). Instagram (10.7%) is second, followed by Pinterest (8.2%).

eMarketer predicts that 91.2% of Facebook users will access the platform via smartphones in 2019, reaching 156 million users. The number of users accessing the platform solely on mobile devices (including tablets) will reach 113.7 million in 2019.

In 2019, Facebook's adult users in the United States spent an average of 18.07 minutes per day accessing the platform on mobile devices (including tablets), and an average of 5.31 minutes on PCs/laptops.

The average time spent on Facebook across all devices (23.37 minutes) equates to 44.8% of all social media visits. While that’s a huge share, it’s recommended by nearly twice as much, suggesting there are other factors that make Facebook a strong driver of e-commerce sites.

With the rise of social commerce, social networks could become new purchase points, rather than just referrals. Social networks at the forefront of social commerce, especially Instagram, could play a greater role in driving e-commerce purchases.

199IT.com Originally compiled from: eMarketer. Please do not reprint without authorization