There is a lot of marketing “noise” recently around social as it relates to online shopping. With the popularity of Facebook and other social networks, and the race for retailers and other online businesses to solidify their social strategy, we thought we’d provide some context around how we see the market. Based on our experience working with innovative brands and our extensive discussions with online retailers and other business partners, we see three main categories in social commerce that e-commerce brands need to address:
- Viral Marketing: Retailers need to tap into their customers’ social networks to promote products, find new, like-minded customers and generate traffic or buzz around the brand. There are many companies working in this area, with many creative agencies developing smart, integrated campaigns leveraging Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and the like, while generating new “fans” for brands to reach.
- Affirmation: Ratings and reviews initially served to give consumers more confidence in a product’s reliability, worthiness or “cool” factor. But until recently, these have mostly been from anonymous reviewers or people unknown by the purchaser. Now though, buyers can get this affirmation directly from the people who matter most in the purchase decision, namely friends, family and peers. The Facebook “Like” button and commenting/feedback via social networks are examples.
- Collaboration: Consumers can work together in real time to choose a car, furniture or an outfit. Also, some companies are promoting group purchasing and/or steep discounts if large numbers of consumers buy within a certain timeframe. This area stands out because it can lead directly to a purchase. ShopTogether, Groupon are specific examples of collaboration solutions.
Retailers need to address all three of these areas in their social strategy. ShopTogether’s flexible interface and turn-key products can help retailers address each one of these aspects to create a complete and effective social commerce solution. We would love to hear how you’re viewing the space.
Tags: e-commerce, e-tail, real-time, s-commerce, ShopTogether, social commerce, social shopping