'A whole new baseline in digital shopping': Orders from social media sites increased 84% in the third quarter, according to a new report

• In recent years, social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have used ecommerce as a means of monetizing their audiences.
• Amid the COVID-19 pandemic that trend has accelerated, with orders over social media increasing 84% in the third quarter, according to a Salesforce study.
• "For all intents and purposes, it becomes the next shopping mall," Rob Garf of Salesforce said at Business Insider's Ignition event Thursday, presented by Salesforce. "Don't sleep on it."

Americans are shopping more and more on social media platforms, with sales on social growing 84% in the third quarter, according to new Salesforce report.

"It's a whole new baseline in digital shopping," said Rob Garf, Vice President of Industry Insights at Salesforce's Retail & Consumer Goods division, at Business Insider's IGNITION: A Retail Revolution panel on Thursday. "It's everything from TikTok to the hundreds of thousands of live-streamers, which have become the new Home Shopping Network of this generation."

Meanwhile, social media giants like Instagram and Twitter have invested in making shopping a more seamless part of their platform, said Kieley Taylor, the global head of partnerships for GroupM.

Taylor pointed to Instagram's checkout feature, which allows users to click on a shoppable tagged item in a post, and choose among options like size and color before checking out. Instagram also launched a new design for its app today to more prominently feature the Shop tab on the home screen.

In addition, Twitter moved to relaunch carousel advertisements on Wednesday, and in September, Pinterest added more advertising features that it said was, "bringing us one step closer to our goal of making every Pin shoppable."

Pinterest reported that revenues were up 58% year over year in October, with analysts attributing the boost to a growth in online shopping and the comforting, news-free nature of the platform.

During the Ignition panel, Garf highlighted WeChat, the messaging platform used ubiquitously in China, as an example of how ecommerce can thrive on social media.

"The Chinese market has been living in this messaging platform for quite some time, not just to communicate with friends and family and colleagues, but also do their shopping for everyday items and even luxury items," said Garf.

Two-thirds of Generation Z-ers surveyed said that they had made a purchase on social media, and 27% of millenials said they were interested in shopping on social media platforms come this holiday season, according to research by Salesforce.

"For all intents and purposes, it becomes the next shopping mall," said Garf. "Don't sleep on it."