From Facebook to Twitter, Big Tech sees social commerce driving sales growth

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen placed on a keyboard in this illustration taken March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

(Reuters) - Led by Facebook, social media platforms from Alphabet's YouTube to Snap Inc and Twitter are investing heavily in shopping features to drive revenue growth, a major theme that emerged during second-quarter results over the past week.

The companies are vying for a piece of the so-called social commerce industry, which relies on users' ability to discover and buy products through social media apps and is expected to balloon to $50 billion from $36 billion in annual sales by 2023 in the United States according to research firm eMarketer.