Social networks and their impact on online retail and consumers behaviour

Modern society is very changeable, technologies are evolving rapidly, thus accompanying their implementation in various spheres of human life. Modern digital technologies contribute to the emergence of new aspects of consumer behavior, which actively use modern information and communication tools in the decision-making process for the purchase of goods and services. Most of them create content platforms and use social interactive means of communication with other potential buyers, which, in fact, are called social media. Social networks are one of the modern channels of marketing communication with consumers, which has gained great popularity in many countries around the world. At the same time, social networks have become catalysts for changes in consumer behavior and accelerated the transition from outbound to inbound marketing. The paper also examines the impact of social networks on consumer behavior depending on their generation, buzzers and millennials are more likely to shop through digital marketplaces and use social networks more often in the shopping process than generation X and baby boomers.