Reports in recent years have highlighted the increasing importance of social commerce and now a new study from next-gen delivery management platform Scurri shows just how crucial s-commerce has become for retailers’ growth strategies.

Almost 90% of British mid-market retailers believe social commerce is “democratising the sector, levelling the playing field for SME businesses”; 83% of retailers say social commerce is the UK’s fastest growing sales channel; but 89% also identify post-purchase experience as “crucial to building consumer trust and meeting expectations for delivery speed, tracking and returns”.

The company commissioned Savanta to conduct online research of a total of 123 UK retailers, including enterprise (large-scale businesses operating in multiple markets) and mid-market firms.

And 86% of them said social commerce is changing the retail landscape in a democratic way “by allowing mid-market businesses to compete against enterprise level companies and achieve commercial success regardless of size and resource”.

But larger businesses are “increasingly learning from the strategies of founder-led and SME brands that are delivering social commerce success, with 50% of enterprise retailers agreeing that social commerce is no longer an optional feature but a key driver of growth”.

Scurri said s-commerce in the UK is predicted to more than double in the next four years, rising from £7.4 billion to almost £16 billion by 2028, representing 10% of the total e-commerce market. That’s up from 6% in 2024, and growing at four times the rate of overall e-commerce sales.

As mentioned a huge majority of retailers say social is their fastest-growing sales channel in the UK and for the next 24 months, mid-market brands identified YouTube (55%), Instagram (54%), and TikTok Shop (54%) as the drivers of strategic growth opportunities. 

Enterprise retailers are more focused on Facebook (57%), along with Instagram (48%) and TikTok Shop (48%) as they look ahead to 2027.

The research reveals mid-market brands are more active than enterprise businesses in terms of shopper engagement activities on social commerce, including activation of paid partnerships (42% vs 29%), brand customer content (48% vs 39%) and live shopping events (46% vs 24%). Enterprise level respondents are more prevalent in activating partnerships with macro (32% vs 21%) and lifestyle (47% vs 37%) influencers.

But as mentioned, regardless of business size, 89% of retailers agree post-purchase experience is crucial to building trust with consumers who have very high expectations for delivery speed, tracking and returns when purchasing via social commerce.