E-commerce purchases via social media and live-streaming are growing on TikTok, especially among younger buyers.

According to Insider Intelligence/eMarketer, Facebook leads social media platforms with 20.5% of purchases. Instagram is in the second spot with 14.6%, followed by YouTube with 9.5%, and then TikTok with 7.8%.

After TikTok, the top social media platforms were Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter), and Pinterest.

The survey was conducted in June and is based on US adults who made purchases in the previous 30 days.

According to a couple of Meta support pages that were inconspicuously changed, Instagram and Facebook’s messaging services will no longer be cross-compatible beginning in mid-December.

The Verge noticed the changes and reported that when the feature is removed, you will no longer be able to start new cross-platform chats, and current discussions between services will become read-only.

It is unknown when the pages were modified; however, the notification was visible on Instagram as of November 21st.

Meta spokesperson Alex Dziedzan confirmed the change to The Verge: “A few years ago, we introduced a new Messenger experience in Instagram DMs which enabled people to message and call a FB account (Messenger) from an Instagram account and vice versa. Starting in mid-December, we will begin removing this feature.”

However, there is a theory that connecting Meta’s services would make a possible split of Facebook, Instagram, and, eventually, WhatsApp more difficult, noted the report. This comes as Meta is dealing with strict new EU antitrust rules.

As the holidays approach, American consumers do not lack disposable income and are generally in superb financial shape.

However, they no longer require the high-priced items—such as consumer electronics, furnishings, and appliances—that they purchased during the pandemic, according to an article at Insider Intelligence/eMarketer.

The only gifting categories expected to surpass the 11.3% benchmark for e-commerce sales during the holiday season are apparel and accessories, toys, and hobbies. This is because demand for clothing will remain high due to social events, travel, and the return to the office.

According to the report, US holiday internet sales will return to double-digit growth this year at 11.3% compared to last year as growth rates for all retail channels return to a pre-pandemic level.

Amazon is expected to dominate US holiday season retail e-commerce sales, outpacing its nearest competitor, Walmart, by more than $80 billion.

According to Insider Intelligence/eMarketer, Amazon is projected to reach over $106 billion in sales, followed by Walmart with over $20 billion, Apple with nearly $14 billion, and Target with over $7 billion.

Last week, Amazon announced that it made “record-breaking” sales leading up to Cyber Monday.

According to SurveyMonkey, 59% of US adults interested in using AI chatbots for shopping-related tasks would use the technology for product research.

Amazon has now released Q, a chatbot similar to ChatGPT. While the product is geared toward experts, the retailer is pioneering generative AI.

“We want everything that we’re looking for to instantaneously appear in front of us, and that’s obviously not possible,” said Insider Intelligence/eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman.

Generative AI will improve people’s search for things, bringing them closer to what they want.

In-store retail sales in the United States increased by the most since December, thanks to aggressive discounts. However, the year-over-year sales increase for the week covering the traditional Black Friday shopping season kick-off was the smallest in six years.

According to Reuters, the Johnson Redbook Index, which includes nearly 9,000 general merchandise businesses in the United States, increased by 6.3% year on year in the week ended Nov. 25, up from 3.4% the previous week, stated Redbook Research on Tuesday.

According to the research, merchants’ sales volumes surged throughout the Black Friday weekend as cost-conscious buyers sought higher discounts on costlier products.

Buyers are enjoying the cheapest holiday shopping season in years, with prices for toys, games, and hobby gear falling for the first time since 2020. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sporting goods costs declined this holiday season for the first time since 2018.

Data published by Mastercard revealed that more buyers chose to take advantage of greater and earlier online discounts, with e-commerce sales on Nov. 24 increasing by 8.5% year on year, compared to a 1.1% increase in in-store sales.

Online spending on Cyber Monday was projected to top $12 billion, a record, as bargain seekers took up offers on items such as Barbie dolls, Lego sets, headphones, and smartwatches, according to preliminary estimates from Adobe Digital Insights.

US shoppers would spend $12 billion-$12.4 billion on Cyber Monday, the largest online shopping day in the United States, reported Reuters.

It was predicted that a large chunk of this spending, roughly $4 billion, would occur between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST, notably from last-minute consumers. This would be a 9.7% increase over the $11.3 billion spent on Cyber Monday last year.

Push notifications, text messages, and video streaming ads touting heavily discounted cosmetics, electronics, toys, apparel, and other items enticed inflation-weary US consumers to open their wallets on Cyber Monday.

According to Adobe, a record number of price-conscious holiday buyers were also expected to employ buy now, pay later options for Cyber Monday to reduce the stress on their wallets.

According to the report, the buy now, pay later company Klarna recorded a 29% rise in orders placed by US customers on Black Friday, with personal devices, televisions, and kitchen appliances among the most popular items.

According to statistics from retailer websites collated by third parties, holiday shoppers in the United States are seeking out the best offers and carefully nabbing the deepest discounts ahead of Cyber Monday.

According to Rob Garf, vice president and general manager for retail at Salesforce, which tracks data flowing through its Commerce Cloud e-commerce service, strong online traffic on Black Friday demonstrated a notable pattern of shoppers putting time and effort into selecting the lowest-cost, best-value merchandise, reported Reuters.

Cyber Monday, the first Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday, is expected to be the most significant online shopping day of the year in the United States.

On Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving, businesses in the United States “stepped up the discounting” to around 30% on average, said Garf. According to Salesforce, “consumers clicked the buy button,” spending $16.4 billion online in the United States and $70.9 billion globally that day.

Salesforce expects to see discounts averaging 30% again on Cyber Monday. The risk for consumers, he says, is that products will be unavailable if they wait.

US merchants in fashion, electronics, and home improvement are prepared for a difficult holiday season, indicating that more significant discounts may not elicit the level of spending that they expect during their busiest time of year.

According to October retail sales numbers, economic demand in the United States has declined. Several merchants said on Tuesday that the holiday season is looking good following a rocky start to the fourth quarter when most Americans start shopping for the holidays, reported Reuters.

Retailers intend to rely on discounts and have begun offering holiday deals early to entice people to open their wallets during Thanksgiving weekend.

However, Lowe’s, Best Buy, and department store chain Kohl’s reported lower sales at locations open at least a year in the most recent quarter and decreased their sales expectations for the year.

According to the National Retail Federation, holiday sales in the United States are predicted to climb at the slowest rate in five years as Americans are expected to cut back on holiday spending, added the report.

Insider Intelligence/eMarketer estimates that between 2023 and 2027, US retail media ad spend will double to $109.40 billion.

“Increased spending in retail media connected TV and other off-site formats has pushed our forecast up several percentage points, as noted in our Retail Media Forecast H2 2023 report,” stated Insider Intelligence/eMarketer.

US retail media ad expenditures are predicted to increase by more than 20% annually through the end of 2027.

“Our projection increased due to good showings from Amazon Ads and Walmart Connect, the country’s two largest retail media networks,” the report noted.

Their forecast shows retail media will account for over one-quarter of US digital ad spend by 2027.