Study: Twitter users make good digital customers

A new study reveals that e-commerce retailers may have reason to target Twitter users.

According to data from Numerator, more than one in five U.S. consumers (22.9%) is a Twitter user. Twitter usage also skews young, as this overall figure includes nearly two in five 18-20 year olds (38%) who use Twitter, as well as 29% of 21-24 year olds.

The single largest age group using the Twitter platform is consumers age 45-54. However, this age demographic slightly underperforms the overall usage rate, with 22% participation on Twitter.

In good news for retailers seeking high-value customers, Numerator data indicates that Twitter users are more likely than the average consumer to come from high income households, hold four-year or graduate degrees, and live in urban environments.

Twitter users also show a greater propensity than average consumers to use social media for shopping purposes. According to Numerator data, three in 10 (31%) Twitter users say they use social media to learn about new products and services (vs. 21% of consumers overall), while 27% use it for exclusive offers (vs. 16% overall) and 23% use the platform to make purchases (vs. 17% overall).

Twitter users are also 22% more likely to say they find online shopping very enjoyable compared to the average consumer; as well as being 4% more likely to shop online and 6% more likely to shop on Amazon, according to Numerartor data.

In addition, Twitter users are 40% more likely to use DoorDash and 35% more likely to use Grubhub than the average consumer.

Other interesting Twitter-related findings from Numerator include:

• Twitter users are twice as likely to use TikTok and LinkedIn and are over 2.5 times more likely to use Reddit and Tumblr compared to the average consumer.
• Seven in 10 (71%) Twitter users say they check social media websites and apps multiple times a day (compared to 54% of consumers overall).
• More than four in 10 (42%) Twitter users say they use social media to learn about news and current events (vs. 28% of consumers overall).
• Forty-three percent of Twitter users say they are among the first to experiment with and start using new technologies (vs. 31% of consumers overall).

Elon Musk buys Twitter
Significant changes may be coming to Twitter, which was recently purchased for $44 billion by Tesla owner and world’s wealthiest person Elon Musk. While so far not much has changed in the core functionality of Twitter (beyond ongoing efforts to transform its user verification process), in an Oct. 4 tweet posted on his verified Twitter account, Musk stated, “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app.”

While Musk has not publicly specified what exactly an “everything app” would do, media outlets including CNN are speculating he wants to turn Twitter into a “super app” such as the Chinese WeChat app, which provides functionality including mobile payment, messaging and social media from a single platform.

[Read more: Elon Musk is buying Twitter – what’s next for retailers?]

Numerator tracks purchase data and surveys verified buyers to understand shifts in consumer behavior.