Social media is the biggest winner in 2020. Biggest loser? Travel

We Are Social and Hootsuite have published their Digital 2021 reports series. According to Simon Kemp, writing on the We Are Social blog, “this year’s reports reveal that connected tech became an even more essential part of people’s lives over the past year, with social media, ecommerce, streaming content, and video games all seeing significant growth in the past 12 months.”

Kemp highlights mobile, internet and social media user numbers before getting into further details. According to Kemp, “5.22 billion people use a mobile phone today, equating to 66.6 percent of the world’s total population, [and] unique mobile users have grown by 1.8 percent (93 million) since January 2020.”

As for internet users, Kemp’s data suggests “4.66 billion people around the world use the internet in January 2021, up by 316 million (7.3 percent) since this time last year. Global internet penetration now stands at 59.5 percent. However, COVID-19 has significantly impacted the reporting of internet user numbers, so actual figures may be higher.”

For social media users, now at 4.20 billion, their numbers have grown by “490 million over the past 12 months, delivering year-on-year growth of more than 13 percent. The number of social media users is now equivalent to more than 53 percent of the world’s total population.”

Social media users have increased by 1.3 million users per day in 2020. To put it in perspective, Kemp points out that this is “roughly 15 1/2 new users every single second”. And perhaps because of the coronavirus lockdowns worldwide, the typical social media user “spends 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media each day, equating to roughly one waking day of their life every week.”

Turkey is 14th in the list of countries spending time on social media, with 2 hours and 57 minutes average per day. With this statistic, Turkish social media users are above the average and ahead of countries such as the US, UK, Germany and Nordic nations.

Kemp highlights mobile internet usage using App Annie and GWI data. Analysing these inputs, Kemp says the average internet user now spends roughly 7 percent longer (3 hours and 39 minutes) using connected services on their phone than they do watching TV (3 hours and 24 minutes) per day.

According to Hootsuite data, the average amount of time each day that internet users aged 16 to 64 spend online on all devices is 6 hours and 54 minutes per day. An average Turkish user spends 7 hours and 57 minutes online per day, ranking at 12 globally, and above the global average.

Turkey ranks 23rd globally when it comes to e-commerce adoption with 75.0 percent of internet users aged 16 to 64 who bought something online in the past month. The global average is slightly higher at 76.8 percent.

According to a news statement issued by avantajix.com, a Turkish e-commerce site that refunds a portion of your shopping expenses, TUBISAD (Turkish Informatics Industry Association) data indicate that e-commerce in Turkey grows 30 to 40 percent per year.

Guclu Kayral, co-founder of avantajix.com, says “The 2021 World Digital Report suggests that this year the e-commerce market will grow beyond normal trends. The pandemic conditions have made e-commerce necessary for some products while people who shop for the first time from the internet appreciate its ease and advantages.”

Kayral adds “Research conducted in Turkey and overseas has indicated that the main reason that online shopping is preferred is to find the best price. People are really having a hard time because of the pandemic and are not counting liras, they’re counting kurus (cents).”

Going back to the blog post by Simon Kemp at We Are Social, the travel industry seems to have taken a big hit because of the coronavirus pandemic: “This is the first time in our ongoing series of Global Digital Reports that the Travel category hasn’t claimed the largest share of revenue, highlighting just how difficult recent months have been for travel and tourism brands.”

The Travel category, at $593.6 billion, was eclipsed by Fashion & Beauty spending, at $665.6 billion. At the third spot there is Toys, DIY & Hobbies, with $525.6 billion, perhaps a reflection of the fact that people have been spending more time indoors.

The dire straits that the travel industry is in is summarised by Kemp: “Indeed, Statista reports that online revenues in the Travel, Mobility & Accommodation category were down by more than 50 percent year-on-year, resulting in a drop of well over half a trillion US dollars in annual consumer spending.”

Kemp concludes by saying that the new online socialising and spending trends present an opportunity to marketers: “As most marketers know, it can be very difficult to inspire this kind of behaviour change – especially in high-frequency activities [such as grocery shopping] – so these new habits represent an unparalleled opportunity for brands and retailers to redefine the status quo.”