Asia-Pacific will no longer produce huge increases in new social network users, but the sheer scale of the region means it should remain front and center for social media marketers. Facebook will remain on top, but TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat are making waves.

TikTok is now the third-largest worldwide social network, according to our inaugural forecast. It will have 60% more users than Snapchat and twice as many as Twitter this year.

AirAsia, one of the world’s largest budget airlines, is on a mission to build a regional super app. While it follows in the footsteps of titans like WeChat in China and Gojek in Southeast Asia, if AirAsia succeeds, it will blaze a path for travel and other industries not endemic to the mobile space.

Mobile payments are near universal across use cases in China, thanks to high mobile penetration and the rise of a wallet duopoly that’s made them accessible, affordable, and convenient.

Who’s winning the sprint to become a financial services super app: At Money20/20 USA, Insider Intelligence gave financial services executives an advance look at our upcoming matrix compiling some of the industry’s most comprehensive data about global financial services super apps.

The number of mobile messaging app users worldwide will rise by 6.1% in 2021, and new business features facilitate brand-consumer interactions.

China continues to lead the world in all things ecommerce, including innovation. Social commerce livestreaming is just one of many new stories for 2021 and beyond.

The pandemic was disastrous for many retailers; we estimate that total retail sales worldwide plunged 2.8% in 2020. Though, while many physical stores were shuttered, digital retail sales soared by over 25% in a single year.

Though virtually unknown outside of China, a new crop of local direct-to-consumer brands are making a name for themselves at home—and even outperforming some of the major foreign players.

Social commerce is rising rapidly worldwide. But to what extent can the US market mirror that of China, the world leader in social commerce?

When social buying in China will boom

In April 2016, WeCom launched as WeChat Work in China, to only moderate success. The pandemic has turbocharged its user growth, however. The app’s integration with WeChat and arsenal of business features will make it a valuable asset for marketers even after offices reopen.

“Women hold up half the sky,” former Chinese leader Mao Zedong famously said. More than fifty years on, women in China are doing so online, driving digital trends and fast becoming a cohort that marketers ignore at their peril.

The digital divide has widened, particularly over the past year, and left seniors worldwide in the lurch. This issue takes on added urgency in China, where gender imbalance, delayed marriage, and a declining birthrate only exacerbate the rapid aging of its population. In November, the government urged tech companies to cater to the elderly, and China’s digital giants are now tapping into the so-called silver market.

The rest of the world is waking up to the potential of shoppable livestreams, but it’s old news to China’s short-form video players and ecommerce platforms. Short-video leaders Douyin (TikTok’s sister app) and Kuaishou (known outside of China as Kwai) have been expanding their social commerce operations, not just to sell products, but to provide services and other forms of content as well.

For years, luxury brands around the world have been slow to adopt digital. But the pandemic has sped up the process, forcing many to pivot and innovate during a time when a large number of transactions are happening digitally.

After the COVID-19 shock of H1 2020, everyday life in China has gradually returned to the pre-pandemic norm, and economic activities have been on the rebound.

Social commerce is a fast-growing segment of the US ecommerce market that’s garnering more attention and investment from media companies and brands.

Social commerce accelerated in the US in 2020 amid the pandemic-driven ecommerce boom as key platforms advanced their shopping and checkout capabilities.

Despite the hype, most US consumers won’t make a purchase via social media in 2021. Discovery and consideration, rather than direct transactions within social apps, will remain key opportunities for brands next year.