Social commerce is the fastest-growing US retail channel, with spending set to rise at a 20.4% average annual rate through 2027 to hit $144.52 billion, per our forecast.

The payment options retailers offer at checkout can make or break these sales. Sixty-three percent of consumers strongly agree that paying with their preferred payment method is the most significant factor when completing a purchase, per a Q1 2024 Discover study. Here are three charts based on exclusive survey data that reveal how social buyers pay.

PayPal is the preferred digital wallet for social commerce

More than 39% of respondents used PayPal to make a purchase on social media in the past year, per our March 2024 survey of 1,207 social media users. Only cards beat out PayPal, with debit cards leading social commerce transactions and credit cards close behind. Fellow digital wallets Apple Pay (used by 16.4% of respondents) and Google Pay (9.6%) fell far behind.