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1. 10/26/2009 http://www.emarketer.com/Articles/Print.aspx?1007…
Retailers Get Ready for Social Shopping Experience
OCTOBER 26, 2009
Online shopping is more than just transactional
People have long shared product opinions with friends and family through word-of-mouth. Today, social media tools enable
consumers to extend their connections and conduct commerce in powerful new ways.
As people spend more time on social networks, retailers feel pressure to be there as well. Twitter is a hotbed of experimentation for
retailers that see it as a channel for customer service, promoting the deal of the day and more. Facebook and its third-party
developers are creating e-commerce applications on the site. Meanwhile, retail Websites are bolstering their social commerce
features.
“While user ratings and reviews are a mature form of social commerce with proven benefits, e-commerce on social media platforms,
such as Facebook and Twitter, is in an early stage,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Social
Commerce on Facebook, Twitter and Retail Sites.” “People are spending more time on social networks and are able to conduct
more of their regular activities on these platforms. E-commerce on social networks has barely tapped that potential.”
But forward-thinking retailers want to bring their Web stores to the environments where their customers like to spend time. As a result,
almost three-quarters of the merchants in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide have a presence on at least one of the major social
networks or social shopping sites.
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2. 10/26/2009 http://www.emarketer.com/Articles/Print.aspx?1007…
Social network users are a highly coveted group of consumers. Across all age brackets, they were more likely than average to make
an online purchase, according to a May 2009 survey by Anderson Analytics.
What’s more, social network users are sharing recommendations with greater frequency than generally expected. A Q1 2009
Razorfish survey of social network users found that some 29% reported sharing their views online at least every few weeks, while
10% said they made such contributions at least every few days.
“Leading companies know they cannot afford to wait for customers to visit their sites,” added Mr. Grau. “They need to place their
virtual storefronts where their customers congregate. This implies the nature of e-commerce is shifting from a transactional
experience to a social one.”
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