Shoppable ads - statistics & facts
The golden rule of any online shopping experience? Removing frictions that might hinder users from purchasing. As the percentage of users abandoning their online shopping cart is already quite high, online retailers want to make sure that shoppers can buy a product the very moment they see it online. Shoppable ads displayed on web pages, online searches, and social media platforms combine advertising formats and online shopping, representing an additional revenue stream for retailers.
In the United States, shoppable content – especially video - is part of ad campaigns of brands and agencies – with one-third of them opting for shoppable ads in 2024. Shoppable ad formats almost entirely bypass product discovery on e-commerce sites and remarketing actions. More importantly, they are particularly suitable for personalization – a key driver of the online shopping experience.
Popular formats
In the U.S. and UK, search ads - product listing ads displayed with search results - are the most used shoppable ad type. Social media posts follow in the ranking, aligning with the impressive growth of social commerce over the last years. Companies already using shoppable ads are willing to explore less pervasive formats and start collaborations with influencers and creators. In addition to that, they intend to activate shoppable images on visual search results. In 2024, visual search has gained popularity among U.S. shoppers compared to the previous year, and it is currently more popular than other extended reality tools or voice assistants.From browsing to buying
In 2023, one in four UK and U.S. consumers bought a product from shoppable search results, and another 17 percent of them did the same from social media content. However, large usage differences can be observed when comparing generations. Shoppers aged between 16 and 34 years were the most likely to convert the use of shoppable content into a purchase as they showed an engagement rate ranging between 22 and 38 percent for online formats. Consumers aged over 55 were very much behind, with only four percent of them engaging with content promoted by influencers or creators.In the United States, shoppable content – especially video - is part of ad campaigns of brands and agencies – with one-third of them opting for shoppable ads in 2024. Shoppable ad formats almost entirely bypass product discovery on e-commerce sites and remarketing actions. More importantly, they are particularly suitable for personalization – a key driver of the online shopping experience.
