Despite strong growth, the US social commerce market will be about a tenth the size of China’s in 2021, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast

US social commerce sales are picking up, but the size of the market pales in comparison to that of China, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast on the sector.

In 2021, US social commerce sales will rise by 35.8 per cent to $36.62 billion—only a slight deceleration in growth from social commerce’s blowout 2020, when sales surged by 38.9 per cent, it said.

Despite strong growth, the US social commerce market will be about a tenth the size of China’s—$351.65 billion in 2021, it said.

The US also lags behind China when looking at social commerce as a percentage of total e-commerce sales. This year, eMarketer expects social commerce to make up just 4 per cent of the US retail e-commerce market, compared with 13.7 per cent in China.

The gap between the two countries will remain fairly stable till 2024, when social commerce will make up 5 per cent of US retail e-commerce sales compared with 14.5 per cent in China.

According to the company’s inaugural forecast, Facebook is the top social commerce platform in the US. It expects 22.3 per cent of US Internet users, or 56.1 million people aged 14 and older, to make at least one purchase on Facebook in 2021.

Meanwhile, 12.9 per cent of Internet users, or 32.4 million people, will make a purchase on Instagram, compared with 5.6 per cent of Internet users, or 13.9 million people, on Pinterest.

Another reason for China’s strong lead in social commerce is the sheer number of social buyers in the country. In 2021, eMarketer expects 424.4 million people aged 14 and up in China to make at least one social commerce purchase during the calendar year, compared with just 90.2 million in the US.