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“Scrolling” has merged with “shopping.” And for today’s brands, that shift could change everything.
Shopping is no longer simply about browsing websites. Customers are discovering and exploring new products from within their favorite apps—many of which might have nothing to do with intentional shopping sprees.
The American Marketing Association notes global social commerce sales could hit $2.9 trillion by 2026.
The result is a blurring of the lines between online content and social commerce.
Smart brands may see opportunities in these blurring lines. TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest—they’re not just user-friendly social platforms. They’re places brands can connect with their target markets. Every post has become a potential storefront. Every creator is now a potential brand representative.
Take a look at TikTok: It now has TikTok Shop (and 54% of Gen Z now shop there). Instagram isn’t just Reels, but live shopping events, in-app checkouts, and shoppable posts. Facebook Shop is the top choice of 39% of social shoppers. Even Pinterest is full of product discovery features that reshape how consumers discover new interests.
These rising trends are why we turned to Lia Haberman, a strategist and educator who has become one of the sharpest voices in the creator economy and helps brands decode these shifting trends in culture, influence, and commerce. In this conversation, she breaks down why social commerce is shaping all of commerce in 2025, which platforms are setting the pace, and how brands can win when social shopping is all around us.
New Forms of Social Commerce
“The shift in attitude toward social commerce this year. There’s a lot more acceptance from everyone involved, from brands to creators and consumers.”
Haberman believes acceptance is the key to the recent shifts. Before, social commerce was the exclusive realm of specific niches, like fashion and beauty. But no longer. The 2025 Global Social Commerce Market Intelligence Report said the widespread adoption of smartphones “have made live commerce accessible to a larger demographic,” noting “over the next 2-4 years, social commerce is expected to grow in influence.”
But social commerce’s growth isn’t just vertical. The industry is growing wider, too.
“Previously, social commerce seemed to be tied to very specific types of creators, like lifestyle influencers or digital products promoters,” says Haberman. “Creators outside of those verticals didn’t seem to be aware it existed. Now, it’s becoming the norm across niches.”
Haberman believes a lot of these statistics are borne out of brands seeing new opportunities.
“It makes sense,” says Haberman. “Creators are the key to reaching digital audiences, so they’re going to be one of the strongest sales forces you can hire to target consumers.”
Platforms and Tools Nailing Social Commerce and the User Experience
“Platforms like LTK and ShopMy are smart. They’re not just the engines powering affiliate links and commissions, they’re evolving into community-driven experiences.”
Haberman sees resources like LTK, an influencer marketing and affiliate shopping platform, as key to building “shoppable” commerce everywhere.
LTK’s $5 billion in annual brand sales may read like an overnight success. But the platform’s been around for over a decade. Now, social commerce is having its moment.
ShopMy is the relative newcomer here, but it’s getting fast traction thanks to a fun innovation: creator storefronts. Think of it as a modernized version of affiliate shopping in which creators build curated “shops” their audiences might like to browse through.
“Once shoppers [get to the platform], they’re directed to the goods and services they want to buy,” explained Haberman. “But they’re also discovering new creators to follow and additional recommendations from friends. It creates a flywheel effect that gets people opening their wallets.”
This is leading to a new style of shopping: product discovery via creators, not just platforms. Says Haberman: “Discovery from trusted sources is good for business. LTK is generating $5 billion in sales annually, while newcomer ShopMy is already driving $500 million in brand sales.”
Social Commerce Sentiments
“Americans want to buy into a lifestyle. I believe that’s why we haven’t seen the mainstream adoption and success of TikTok Shop by all brands and products. People want to browse content as if it were a magazine. Someone might flip past the ads but they’re going to pore over the editorial curation and look for shopping credits on whatever catches their attention.”
Haberman isn’t the only one who feels this way.
Ana Andjelic, a brand executive and author, has echoed the “lifestyle” argument before. Says Andjelic: “Today, it’s not just buying products, but entering into a lifestyle. It’s very considered. It’s not just my closet, it’s my collection. Every item becomes a collectible and has specific value because it has a story.”
Social shoppers may crave an efficient shopping experience. Who doesn’t enjoy frictionless shopping?
But Haberman believes it goes deeper than that.
“It’s not an exercise in efficiency, it’s fulfilling a fantasy,” she says. What you buy factors into how you feel about yourself.
To Andjelic, it comes down to the stories your product tells the consumer about themselves. “When you think about modern branding, it’s more about the story around the product and that story now needs to include culture to a much higher degree. Brands have always had a dialogue with culture, but when you think about brands creating content and having an editorial point, they really have to add some sort of meaning to consumption.”
Brands Nailing Social Commerce
“We’re really starting to see employee-generated content or EGC take off in 2025. These are employees who are also digital creators, posting on behalf of their employers. Smart brands see these people as assets, not liabilities, and make sure to compensate accordingly.”
It’s a notable shift. For years, the conversation around creators was all about outside talent. Paid influencers. Big audiences. Hired guns, so to speak. But 2025 has opened the door to a new kind of creator. These aren’t hired guns, but closer to brand ambassadors who understand the brand and live in its culture.
These long-term cohorts make it easier for consumers to trust lifestyle-specific recommendations.
Haberman points to luxury brand Coach as a prime example. “Coach does a fantastic job of combining EGC with affiliate sales,” notes Haberman. “I follow one of their salespeople, Brandon Nguyen, or BranBran1997.” Haberman points out that Nguyen is a retail employee who also sells Coach bags from his TikTok account.
“He operates like a personal shopper, trusted voice and luxury curator all rolled into one,” says Haberman.
She imagines other brands might find this kind of relationship uncomfortable. They may outright refuse to let employees join their creator programs. Posting about the business online? Unthinkable, to many brands.
But not Coach. “I very much appreciate how much confidence Coach puts in its employee influencers,” says Haberman. “I imagine some brands would refuse to let employees join their creator programs or post about the business online. I very much appreciate how much confidence Coach puts in its employee influencers.”
Where to Learn About Social Commerce Innovations
“My go-to sources for social commerce updates are an objective balance between the creators who actually use and benefit from affiliate programs, people like Taylor Lorenz and Diana May, the founders of affiliate platforms, like LTK’s Amber Venz Box.”
Haberman’s instincts align with many of the voices building the infrastructure to support this new style of creator-led commerce. Few voices are as influential as Amber Venz Box, LTK’s co-founder and president.
In one recent post, for example, Venz Box spotlighted a fundamental shift that’s made the creator economy possible:
The divide between algorithms and owned reach.
“At LTK, we pioneered storefronts over a decade ago when the timing and context made sense. That era has ended,” writes Venz Box. “Algorithmic reach has killed the viability of the storefront. … Unlike platforms reliant on algorithms, LTK creators own their audience relationships through their LTK profiles.”
Venz Box’s insights show that “owned reach” through creator platforms is the key new trend. Storefronts? They may be a thing of the past.
Voices like Venz Box are critical for Haberman and other experts. After all, there are only so many places to watch the development of social commerce from the cutting edge. For Haberman, that means watching those who are on the cutting edge.
Tips for Brands Interested in Social Commerce in 2025
“It starts with understanding who you’re getting into business with. Treat this like a valued partnership. Some creators excel at entertaining or sparking conversation—that doesn’t make them sales people.”
Haberman’s advice is simple. It’s also often overlooked.
Brands can’t simply throw products at the biggest names in their industries and expect conversions. The best sales partners are those already primed for ecommerce. These creators have spent time cultivating an audience and building trust with fans.
Maybe that means sharing unboxings. Maybe it means a long history of helpful but honest reviews. Maybe it means being honest about affiliate links.
Whatever it is, creators need a strong relationship with their audience to be valuable to the brands they represent. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution,” says Haberman. “You need a creator partner who’s familiar with and good at driving social commerce.”
From there, it’s time to mix in different elements into a new campaign. “When it comes to a new launch or bestseller campaign, you should be employing a mix of gifting, sponsored posts, collaborations, and commission opportunities, along with your regular digital rollout,” says Haberman.
And show appreciation for the people who represent your brand. “The sales channels and tactics may have changed,” says Haberman, “but the need to express your appreciation hasn’t. For salespeople who are new to social commerce, think of these perks as a modern-day version of when top salespeople used to get a company Cadillac or set of steak knives for their efforts.”
Social Commerce is Already Here. What’s Next?
Social commerce in 2025 is not some new experiment. It’s growing vertically and horizontally. It’s showing it has legs. In fact, it may be a core revenue channel for many brands already.
Those brands that are winning are the ones integrating it seamlessly into broader influencer and marketing strategies. They’re investing in long-term relationships with brand ambassadors. Those ambassadors, in turn, have built long-term relationships with their audiences.
How will the best brands handle it? Creating trust-driven experiences, not just frictionless shopping. Ultimately, trust is what matters online—and it’s what’s driving social commerce for the immediate future.
