Shopping, Wearables & Video: 2015 Trends to Watch

Fun fact: Statista reported there were 1.8 billion users of social media for 2014, and predicted 2.4 billion social media users by 2018. So what trends are on the horizon this year?

Social Commerce

Last year, we saw Twitter and Facebook test out “buy” buttons, and Tumblr introduce “action” buttons to purchase directly on the site, and we expect more networks will follow suit. Additionally, Facebook announced it will allow people to use its Messenger service to send money to friends.

As users of social networks are discovering that they can purchase items on the spot without ever leaving a network’s site, brands are responding and online commerce is changing fast. Social commerce sales of physical goods are projected to grow by 93% per year in the U.S., reaching $14 billion by 2015.  Payment methods like Square, PayPal and Apple Pay no doubt are working hard to adapt to this big shift in the marketplace.

Wearables

While 2014 was a big year for wearables, designers will be thinking beyond functionality and more about what consumers will actually wear in 2015. Coming up are 50 wearable game-changers for 2015: Everything from watches to fitness trackers to cameras are taking on a new look – all that are looking more fashionable. Even shoe accessory and jewelry makers are jumping on the bandwagon.

The Video Competition Heats Up

Facebook purchased video compression company QuickFire to give Facebook users a way to upload or download videos directly to the site without compromising quality. The social media site averages more than 1 billion video views every day, and as of November 2014 the number of videos uploaded directly to Facebook overtook YouTube videos on the network for the first time. (We all know that Google owns YouTube.) Read more about the potential hurdles and advantages Facebook faces in this latest endeavor.

Twitter just released a new video offering, as well.

2015 promises exciting developments in social media and we look forward to determining how we can incorporate these new opportunities into our client programs!

What trends have you seen on the rise this year?