New research from Unbox and Retail Economics says annual non-food social commerce sales will reach an estimated £9.1 billion in 2025.
It reported that social commerce is growing at a rate of 17% year and will reach £20 billion in 2030.
The platforms highlighted that Gen Z are planning to spend over a third of their Christmas gift budgets on social platforms, and UK social commerce sales over the Christmas period will reach £2.4 billion.
Over half of UK adults believe social platforms will account for a larger share of their online purchases in 2026, rising to 65% of Gen Z consumers.
According to Unbox and Retail Economics, the increase in sales is being driven by changing shopper behaviour, with social networks becoming Gen Z’s search engine of choice.
It also reports that the change could be due to an increased distrust in brands, with Gen Z shoppers twice as likely to trust creators as they are brands when deciding what to buy.
However, there are some barriers to growth as shoppers are concerned about reliability and authenticity when purchasing from social platforms such as TikTok Shop.
“Gen Z has rewritten how product discovery works,” says Hugo Soul, CEO of Unbox.
“TikTok is now their primary search engine, and trust has migrated from brands to creators. It’s no surprise global brands are reorganising around social commerce, but doing so at enterprise scale requires new systems, new governance and new ways of working.”
When it comes to social commerce, TikTok Shop is emerging as the dominant platform, according to the research, with it accounting for 39% of UK social commerce spend.
Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, said “Social commerce is becoming a mainstream part of the retail landscape, particularly for younger shoppers as they head into Christmas. Gen Z’s reliance on creators and social search is accelerating this shift, reshaping how brands need to show up and compete. The challenge for retailers is keeping pace with rapid behavioural change while maintaining trust, accuracy and consistency across fast-moving platforms.”
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