Australian businesses embrace social selling, PayPal says

Two-thirds of Australian businesses now sell through social media platforms, according to PayPal's 2026 eCommerce Index, which found social media accounts for 11% of online sales in Australia.

The survey found 67% of businesses use social platforms as a sales channel, marking a clear shift from using social media mainly for promotion. Among businesses already active in social selling, the share of total online sales generated through those platforms rises to 14%.

Smaller firms appear to be leading the change. The figures show 72% of small and medium-sized businesses sell via social platforms, compared with 65% of micro businesses and 52% of larger companies.

This suggests a different approach by business type. Smaller operators are increasingly using social platforms as direct storefronts, while larger businesses are more likely to use them for brand awareness and direct customers to their own websites.

Social media is also widely used for marketing. Almost nine in 10 businesses, or 89%, use it to promote products or services, and 60% post weekly or more often.

Consumer shift

Consumer behaviour is moving in the same direction. More than a quarter of Australians, or 28%, said they had made a purchase or payment through a social media or streaming platform in the previous six months.

Younger shoppers are driving much of that activity. The study found 46% of Gen Z consumers had shopped through social channels, compared with 26% of Millennials, 24% of Gen X and 20% of Baby Boomers.

Platform preferences also vary by age. Facebook remains the most widely used platform overall among social shoppers, with 58% saying they use it for purchases.

Instagram is more prominent among younger groups, with 41% of Gen Z and 52% of Millennial social shoppers using the platform. Gen Z purchases are also spread across Snapchat, Discord and Reddit, pointing to a broader mix of channels than among older age groups.

For merchants, that fragmentation may complicate sales strategies. Businesses can no longer rely on a single dominant platform if they want to reach different age groups online.

Payments focus

Josh Grech, Head of Business Marketing at PayPal Australia, said the pace of change had been unusually fast.

"The numbers tell a clear story: social selling has moved from experiment to expectation for Australian businesses. The doubling of adoption in a single year is extraordinary, and it reflects how quickly social platforms have evolved into fully fledged storefronts.

"As the path from inspiration to purchase collapses into a single, seamless journey, trust becomes critical. When consumers are buying from newer or lesser-known brands through social, a fast, secure and familiar payment experience can be the difference between a completed purchase and a lost sale.

"With social media now driving more than one in 10 online sales, it has evolved beyond a marketing tool into an integral part of the commerce journey. Businesses that combine strong social engagement with seamless, trusted payment experiences will be best positioned to convert attention into revenue."

The research was based on a survey of 1,012 consumers and 410 businesses in Australia. The business sample covered companies that sell partly or wholly online and partly or wholly to consumers.

PayPal has more than 9.5 million active customer accounts in Australia.