Australia and New Zealand Social Media Benchmarks: Ecommerce Q2 2026

What’s in this report

In Q2 2026, ecommerce brands in Australia and New Zealand saw Instagram median post engagement rates of around 1.9%, well ahead of Facebook’s roughly 0.5%. Ecommerce was the dominant category on both platforms, driving 62.4% of Facebook brand-page interactions and 61.8% of Instagram brand-profile interactions across the region. Live Video led organic performance on Facebook, while Carousel and Reel posts led on Instagram.

This quarterly benchmarks report pulls from Emplifi’s dataset of 286 Facebook pages and 164 Instagram profiles across Australia and New Zealand, covering April 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026.

User-generated content: what’s achievable

Brands using Emplifi’s UGC solution this quarter saw:

• 5.27x increase in conversion rate
• 6.61x increase in website visits
• 1.34x increase in average order value

These figures represent the median uplift seen across Emplifi’s Ecommerce UGC Accounts Benchmark for Q2 2026. Note: this deck includes a dedicated ecommerce-specific UGC benchmark (rather than the generic cross-industry figure used elsewhere in this batch), so these numbers differ from the standard 19.88x / 5.06x / 1.08x figures cited in the FAQ section below, which reflect the broader all-industry benchmark.

Organic performance: Facebook and Instagram

Interaction share by industry

On Facebook, Ecommerce accounts for 62.4% of total brand interactions — the highest share of any category. On Instagram, Ecommerce leads with 61.8% of interactions.

Facebook interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Instagram interaction distribution (Q2 2026):

Platform landscape at a glance

In Australia and New Zealand, Instagram brand profiles carry a followed-by count roughly on par with Facebook pages within Ecommerce. The underlying chart for this section does not print exact figures — only relative bubble sizes — so the table below uses directional comparisons.

Activity volume on Instagram is higher than on Facebook, while user engagement on Instagram also outpaces Facebook.

Median post interactions

Median post interactions track the middle-ranked page or profile by monthly interactions — a measure of typical performance rather than outlier peaks.

Instagram median post interactions fluctuated in the high-teens to mid-20s range over the past year, peaking around 25 in September 2025 before ending Q2 2026 at approximately 21. Facebook held much flatter and lower throughout, dipping from around 4 to roughly 3 near the end of 2025 and staying there since.

Relative median post interactions

Relative median interactions index each platform’s performance against its own peak over the reporting period, making it easier to compare directional trends across platforms regardless of absolute scale.

By Q2 2026, Facebook’s relative median interactions sat at around 75% of its peak, having stepped down from 100% in October 2025 and held flat since. Instagram dipped to a low of about 72% in December 2025 before recovering to roughly 84% by Q2 2026 — ending the period closer to its own peak than Facebook.

Median post impressions

Impressions measure how many times posts were displayed, regardless of interaction. This metric is available for both platforms and reflects reach rather than engagement.

Instagram impressions climbed sharply from around 3,200 in May 2025 to a peak of roughly 7,700 in September 2025, then declined steadily to approximately 3,900 by Q2 2026. Facebook impressions stayed relatively flat around 4,000–4,600 through early 2026 before slipping to about 2,500 by quarter’s end.

Engagement rate trends

Median post engagement rates this quarter:

• Instagram: ~1.9%
• Facebook: ~0.46%

Instagram engagement has remained broadly stable in a 1.7–1.9% band over the past year, ending Q2 2026 near the top of that range. Facebook engagement has crept up gradually, from about 0.32% a year ago to roughly 0.46% this quarter.

Best-performing post types

Facebook: Live Video and standard Video continue to outperform other formats organically. In Q2 2026, Live Video generated a median of 88 post interactions, while standard Video reached approximately 2.

Instagram: Carousel and Reel posts lead organic performance. Carousels generated a median of 39 post interactions this quarter; Reels reached 25.

Full organic post type performance (Q2 2026):

Post type distribution trends:

On Facebook, Photo remains the dominant post format at around 58% of posts, though Reels are gaining share steadily — rising from near zero earlier in the year to approximately 31% by Q2 2026. On Instagram, Reels, Images, and Carousels each account for roughly a third of posts published, with Reels and Carousels driving the majority of top-performing content.

Top performing pages and profiles

Facebook — top pages by total interactions (Q2 2026):

Instagram — top profiles by total interactions (Q2 2026):

Top posts this quarter

The highest-performing individual posts by interactions across Australia and New Zealand brands in Q2 2026:

Facebook:

Instagram:

How does your brand compare?

These benchmarks reflect median performance across thousands of brands in Emplifi’s dataset. Get a free personalized assessment to see exactly where your brand stands today.

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Paid performance: Facebook and Instagram ads

Where brands are spending

The majority of paid spend for Australia and New Zealand ecommerce brands goes to FB feed, followed by IG feed and IG instagram stories. Spending on FB feed is 18.42 percentage points higher than on IG feed.

CPC and CPM by placement

The most cost-efficient placements for Australia and New Zealand ecommerce brands this quarter:

• Lowest CPC: FB feed, FB facebook reels, and IG instagram stories
• Lowest CPM: FB facebook reels, FB feed, and IG instagram reels

CPC and CPM by placement (Q2 2026):

Click-through rate by placement

Within the ecommerce brands benchmark for Australia and New Zealand, FB feed leads on CTR at 1.62%, compared to FB facebook reels at 0.93%.

CTR by placement (Q2 2026):

Cost trends over time

Q2 2026 ad cost benchmarks for Australia and New Zealand. Ecommerce meets Emplifi’s 200-active-ad-account minimum on its own, so this deck includes both an ecommerce-specific ad benchmark (“Brands benchmark”) and a broader Australia and New Zealand, all-industries benchmark (“Australia and New Zealand overall”):

Ecommerce-specific CPC fell from around $0.16 in mid-2025 to approximately $0.13 by Q2 2026, consistently running far below the broader Australia and New Zealand ad-account benchmark, which climbed from about $0.36 to $0.45 over the same period — more than triple the ecommerce figure. CPM followed a similar pattern: ecommerce CPM held mostly flat in the $2.00–$2.60 range while the region-wide figure rose from roughly $3.10 to $4.55. CTR moved in ecommerce’s favor throughout the period, ending Q2 2026 at about 1.58% versus 1.19% region-wide.