Why The Social Media ‘Buy Button’ Is Still There, Even Though Most Never Use It

In the past year, there’s been a flurry of experimentation with “buy buttons,” a way for social-media sites to allow users to purchase cocktail dresses, throw blankets, candle-making kits and sundry other items from retailers without leaving the social network. Pinterest launched “buyable pins” in June, the same month Instagram released its similar “shop now” feature. Those offerings joined ongoing tests by Facebook and Twitter for similar ­functionality. But this holiday season, social channels accounted for 1.8 percent of overall online sales, according to data from Custora, whose software platform is used by many retailers. Read more at The Washington Post.