Social media has long been explored as a retail platform, from peer-to-peer selling Facebook group Wavey Garms to shopping via Pinterest. In June 2014, tweets from shopping site The Fancy appeared with a ‘Buy Now’ button, letting customers buy directly from Twitter timelines.

Have you ever seen something cool in a video and wondered where you could buy it for yourself? With shoppers increasingly influenced by the media they see online, YouTube is introducing content-based ads, offering viewers the chance to buy the things they see in its videos.

Only 0.6% of online shopping is driven by social media, compared to e-mail, which drives 27%. Can Facebook’s Buy button, integrated into newsfeeds, encourage people to spend more when they're on social media? And are retailers really welcome on such a personal platform?

The internet has become a sprawling hub of images often featuring desirable content – but no place to buy it. California-based start-up The Hunt has set out to tackle the problem by providing a new and interactive online shopping experience.