Key stat: YouTube's share of US grocery purchase-intent clicks rocketed from 2.2% to 55.2% YoY, vaulting it from last place to first among social platforms, according to first-quarter data from MikMak.

Beyond the chart:

• YouTube's pull starts well before checkout. It now makes up nearly a third of the social media citations surfacing in Google's AI Overviews, according to Tinuiti and Profound.
• That discovery edge pays off once video turns shoppable. Interactive video ads lift unaided recall by 36% and in-store foot traffic by 13%, according to BrightLine.

Use this chart: Drop this into any social commerce or retail media planning deck to show how fast platform leadership can flip. Use it to push your grocery clients to revisit YouTube budgets, and to challenge the assumption that Meta automatically owns the path to purchase.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• YouTube for Social Media Teams 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• What Brands Need to Know About TikTok Shop in 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is collected and analyzed quarterly by MikMak. The dataset is based on the analysis of key ecommerce KPIs collected across hundreds of multichannel brands over 250 channels and thousands of retailer integrations to understand consumers' online shopping behavior.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.