Social commerce is a big deal that’s going to get bigger and bigger, becoming something truly monstrous, so it’s easy to forget that this is all still very new, and all still very shiny.

It does depend on how and when you define ‘social’, but inasmuch as we’ve come to use that word to reference platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, the history of social commerce traces back less than a half-decade. But does that mean it’s overhyped?

Far from it.

Digital marketing is predicted to hit $300 billion by 2020, and, amazingly, half of that growth is expected to come from social commerce. Pick your jaw up from the floor and read on.

Mark Zuckerberg has said, “If I had to guess, social commerce is the next area to really blow up.” Here’s the thing – it’s already happening.

This infographic from Useful Social Media looks at the history of social commerce.

(Source: Useful Social Media. Top image credit: keellla via Shutterstock.)