Facebook Is Emerging As A Huge Engine For Driving E-Commerce Traffic, And Online And Offline Purchases

Facebook, the social giant, is the social commerce leader by a number of metrics.

Facebook doesn't just generate more online and offline retail sales than other social sites and apps. It also beats its rivals in terms of conversions, the value of sharing, and visits.

In a new report from BI Intelligence we break down how social media is impacting retail sales throughout the purchase process - whether a social media user clicks directly from a retailer's Facebook ad to make a purchase, or sees a pin on Pinterest and ends up buying the product in-store a week later. We look at the varied metrics that underscore social commerce performance at the different networks, including conversion rates, average order value, and revenue generated by shares, likes, and tweets. We also outline the latest commerce efforts by leading social networks.

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• Facebook is growing in the triple-digits in terms of the number of orders generated: The site grew orders 129% in 2013, according to Shopify. Only Reddit, a much smaller player in the social-commerce mix, grew orders by a greater percentage.
• Facebook drives a significant majority of orders: For example, Facebook accounts for 85% of social-driven orders at stores that use the Shopify platform. Facebook had a less dramatic lead, but was still first, on other e-commerce platforms.
• And a majority of visits: Large numbers of social visits may correlate with influence on consumer decisions further down the purchase funnel.
• Facebook also had the highest conversion rate of all the social networks, at 1.85%, also according to Shopify. That's particularly impressive because the site drives such an overwhelming number of visits. Typically, conversion rates go down with volume.
• A Facebook share is incredibly valuable, most likely because of how many people it reaches. A share translated to an average $3.58 in e-commerce revenue, according to AddShoppers. Compare that to Twitter or Pinterest where a tweet or pin are worth an average 85 cents and 87 cents, respectively.
• Even a Facebook "Like" is worth more than a tweet or a pin. A "Like" is worth a considerable $1.41 in revenue on average.

The report is full of charts and data that can be easily downloaded and put to use.

In full, the report:

• Sizes social media's role for retailers compared to other major referral sources
• Looks at how the different social networks stack up in terms of conversion rates, share of social-generated retail sales, and average order value
• Examines why Facebook alone plays such a massive role for e-commerce companies, driving a huge share of referrals and still beating out other social networks for conversions
• Points to the metrics that still make other, smaller social networks compelling for retailers, including sites like Polyvore, Pinterest, and Instagram
• Outlines the latest major commerce moves by Facebook and Twitter, which could help drive up conversion rates directly from social
• Notes retailers that have built whole businesses on Facebook, showing the very real opportunity for social and commerce to work together

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