Wall Street Journal report on how Retailers are looking to Social Commerce to increase their revenues and provide a new channel to markets

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RetailersEmbrace SocialCommerce
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By Dnltl Bry social scene to shop? Get what Sucharita Mulpuru, the For- vanced search capabilities, Mr.
By NerxnN Koppnr
Jacoby & Meyers Law Of-
fices
time on Facebook Inc.
their professional
The than
you need right on Facebook!"and rester retail analyst who led the Godsmansays.
Retailers are trying to get independence. the Northeast."But the litigation to report, says people often don't
then promptedbroaderimpact,be-
fear that might compromise
couldhavea
"like" its page.
customers to spend morepresentsystemof owner- causethe rule at issue"is in all
recipients
the same
Revenuefrom Mr. Carton,an at-
legal advertising, filed lawsuits economicinequity," Jacoby & by state,"saidthe
state
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just LLP,a pioneer of television ship restrictions "perpetuates materialrespects GNCFace- "liking" them, though she sug- the left-hand side of the page,
Visitors to Facebook fan
revisit fan pages after initially ,pagescan find shopping tabs on
In the past six months, said in book store is slim, but Mr. Hen- gests that consumersmight be typically under the photo. Click-
Wednesday challenging state Meyers such Wednesday's torney with MeiselmarU
laws in New York, New Jersey court filings.
Denlea,
n..........C3 Murphy, G1enn............... Connecticut as Starwood Hotels haveaccess Packman,Carton & inbecomea lured back by offers of exclusive ing the tab directs consumers to
88 companies that prohibit practicedoes"The small flegal] nion believesit could all three
Eberz PC.
RElITER
and not to Court authorities
.....,.......82 i' & Resorts from owning the capitalJ.C. have." Wall statesnamedin theWednesday.
nonattorneys
Inc., markets "significant"to source of online merchandiseor special sales.
Worldwide Street[aw] firms that the lawsuitsde-
a shopping site built.on the
............C5 stakes in law firms. clined comment
Nevels, B1 Penney which has GNC Founded
Jim.,.................. The firm, Co. and more Holdings 40revenue inThe ownership restrictions
nearly yearsago, the future. "We have Mark Beccue.a senior ana- Facebookplatform, which is of-
flTSr1{TrlilR
.............82
:' ,#:,::::i than 60 lawyers and specializes aim to preventinvestorsfrom in-
.............C3 have invited cases, claims
in personal-injury customers to spend a very young demographicthat lysi at ABI ResearchInc., says ten similar to a company'smain
fluencinglawyers' professional
restrictions have
S.....,......C1 theto raise shopping on company England
tlnt judgment,suchasby pressuring
money by capital tohurt its Australia and is multitasking,put profits gives that consumers buying goods e-commerce.site.
Pandit,
,..,.,...,,,..(2 Vikram ability cover attorneysto
and this before
Parsons,
.............C1 Richard............technology and expansion costs, haveenacted them the needsof their clients.But,
Cl. fan pages without ever leavinglaws the comfort that they online are very purposeful, and Facebook doesn't charge re-
Peltz,
.............C12 Ne1s0n................. have hampered it in provid- allowingnonlawyers leaving Facebookbehind," they typically rely on search en- tailers a fee to add the shopping
B3 Facebook.
RENT[t
and
ing affordable legal services to aren't withcosts,pressureis buildilrgto
to
tion
law firms facerising litiga-
I The move to attractstakesin law firms. relax the ownershipbarrier.
its working-class clients. own sales he says. function, nor does it take a cut
Rahman, lupin............, through firms typically are
C12 owned law social-networking sites
U.S. Easing rules couldhavea
the
.............(2 by their senior-most law- the portion of overall
Whilebig impacton the legalindustry of transactionsthat occur on its
Rich,
...............(2 Marc...................... called as people areJhcoby & Meyers is known for its lawyerssaid,by coming from
C5 yers,
Robinson, comes partners, The struc- spending retail transactions giving smaller
Patrick...........BB was designed to ensure that retail approach to providing legal firms, which may haveless ac-
twe D-conrlnerce been has site. However, companies typi-
..86
.........
(5 Roche,
..............
more
lVlichat'1.............C12 time online and less time Facebook remains small-For-
all the principals of the business counsel. It has opened offices in cess to bank loans than their cally outsourccthe project to de-
Face- onetrl'thcbiggest drivers velopers that charge at least
were accountable for peers,
B2 Rockowitz, at and mall. the firm's shopping centers and has main- larger growestimatesBut
8ruce...........84 the that of their fellow tained Saturday and evening of-Researcha way to raisecapi-
work E-commerce has rester tal to more rapidly.
B4 Rubinson,
............... Aram...........C12 been onelaw firms biggesthours. The firm has ll offices largerfirms might dsothan l% of ofretail sales recent
partners.
The ban on
of the fice drivers book accountsfor less bewining
accept- in New York, where it is based, to seek out investmentsfrom in $10,000to add the feature.
i of retail sales in recent quarters, New Haven, e-commerce-companies
ing nonlawyer investors is na- and locations in overall venturecapitalistsor private-eq- "Rather than simply bringing
...............86 R0b...................,.
sandi, tionwide, with the exception of Conn., and Newark, N.J., as well uity firms, if it were allowed
B8 with online sales rising 28o/o
Washington, D.C., under ethics as other parts of the like GNCbelieve so-called"social
in country. "Thereis no legitimateratio-
quarters. their existing Web experiences
Sargent,R0n.............,....87 first quarter, compared with the law firm's nale that existsto preventnon-im-
the
rules set largely by state su- Jeffrey Carton, commerce" could becomean to Facebook.we believe retailers
Schapiro, 1..........,.C1
Mary preme courts. The prohibition is counsel, said the litigation tar- lawyers
.................87
5<hneiderman,
an increaseof 4o/o gets New York, New portant salesfrom owning equity in
Eric....,...C3 strictures stems from even bricks-and- Jersey, and Iaw firms," saidAndrewFinkel- fu-
decades old and for driver in the who provide'deeply social shop-
mortar stores, accordingto the ture. Americans spent 22 Ja- @2011gines or Thestatoments areabout com- fromping experiences will see the
older against lawyers Connecticut because Jacoby & stein, managingpartner of
...............82 Anth0ny........... sharing fees with nonlawyers, for Meyers has a "strong presence in
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81. D0u9............87 National Retail Federation. utes and 10 secondson Facebook pany's website. most success,"said a Facebook
(har1ie................87
.............5heen,
B2 J.C.Penneylauncheda Face- in April, more than twice the "People are just starting to en- spokeswomanin an email.
Shenoy,
............C2 Navin...,.......,....86 shop in December,
book allowing amount of time they spent on gage with this concept and are Facebookalso makes it easy
........,......82 J0hn..................B6
Spelich,
khail..
, A8 Sprecher, Jeffrey........... its 1.6 million fans to shop di- the Web's top 500 retail sites testing it," concedes
C1 David Gods- for customers to trumpet their
(2 rectly from the social-mediasite. combined.
Anne.............
Stausboll,
................81 man, vice president of global purchasesby sharing them with
H0ward..,........ The Facebook store offers the
Stringer,
.............87 B3 Yet most analysts remain Web services at Starwood, which friends in their personal news
T same products as Penney's mo- skeptical that consumers will added a shopping tab for its Wes- feeds.Most customersare given
C9 Tassler,
.............. Nrna........,.........87 store, a company spokes- want to spend money while they tin brand in January after fans the option to post purchasesto
bile
Taylor,
.............86 8ret....................82woman said. But the Penney are socializingonline. Forrester wrote on the company's Facebook their news feeds automatically.
87 Taylor, Jas0n..................82 Facebookshop lets fans "share" Research issueda report earlier wall suggesting the idea. For retailers,selling on Face-
Therian,Matt.................82
items they like with friends with this year that said there is little Mr. Godsman says only a book is also compelling as a
...............C3
t a simple click. evidencethat social commerceis handful of the hotel's branded market-research tool. Facebook
.,..,...,..,..87 Ta0.....................C12 need to go where our cus- a profitable growth strategy.
Wang
"A/e "Heavenly Beds,"which sell for offers retailers detailed informa-
................86 David................C2
Wargin,
have been pur- tion on customers,including "de-
.............. ghtman, ke.......,..
C2 Wei lMi 84 tomers are," says Jeff Hennion, Without "measurable suc- $1,100 $1,700, to
..........C2 West, David J................ chief branding officer at vitamin- cess" for large brands over the chasedthrough Facebook,
Bl but he mographic information like age,
............
B4
Williamson, Debra Aho.B1 retailer GNC,which has been di- courseof the next year,Forrester says that smaller-ticket items sex, how popular people are and
............
Bl , recting fans to the Facebookshop said, companies that herald like its $36 candlesare gaining how much they share and 'like,'
ita,.......B2Zachary,Seth.................82 it launched in February through Facebook the next big thing in traction.as " says Jason Taylor, vice presi-
emails and its Twitter feed.The e-conrm6rce have "theiredence The Westin Facebookshop is dent of platform strategy for Us-
companyrecently sent an email of a cultist who insists that the identical to its online shop, but ablenet, which develops Face-
blast that said, ',lA/hy leave the world will end next year." it doesn't have the same ad- book shopping tabs for retailers.
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you need right on Facebook!"and
Retailers are trying to get then prompted recipients to
customers to spend more than "like" its page.
just time on Facebook Inc. Revenuefrom the GNCFace-
In the past six months, such book store is slim, but Mr. Hen-
A G a l l a g h J r . ,D a n . . . . . . . . . . CM u r p h y , 1 e n n . . . . . . .8.8. . . .companies as Starwood Hotels
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aren't leaving Facebookbehind,"
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R a h m a nu p i n . . . . . . . .C.1.2 through social-networking sites
l, . . , While the portion of overall
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z, at rester Research estimatesFace-
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n, been one of the biggest drivers book accountsfor less than l% of
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, . . nd B8 ,. in like GNCbelieve so-called"social
S a r g e nR 0 n . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . .the first quarter, compared with
t, .87 commerce" could becomean im-
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J, . . , . . 87 for portant sales driver in the fu-
ar 3
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C . . .. , . 82 A ... ture. Americans spent 22 min-
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D . (t E 8. D, National Retail Federation. utes and 10 secondson Facebook
o K e n n i s h ,r i a n . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . .5 h e e n(,h a r 1 i e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 J.C.Penneylauncheda Face-
B B. 7 in April, more than twice the
D e a rJ 0 s e p h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .K.eCk o r i aK i,r k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S h e n o y ,a v i n . . . , . . . . . . . , . . .book shop in December,
, . .r2 n C2 N .86 allowing amount of time they spent on
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ki , . J, C . its 1.6 million fans to shop di- the Web's top 500 retail sites
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n, . .
K i l t s , i m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S.t.a u s b o A, n e . . . . . . . . . . . . . rectly from the social-mediasite.
J . 81 ll n (2 combined.
E K u t c h eA,s h t 0 n . . . . . . . . . . . . .S t r i n g e H 0 w a r d . . , . .B.3. . . The Facebook store offers the
r 87 r, . . Yet most analysts remain
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P, L T same products as Penney's mo- skeptical that consumers will
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,
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eb A . . . r .87 want to spend money while they
T a y l o r ,r e t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .woman said. But the Penney
8 .82 are socializingonline. Forrester
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T .evi n, 86
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L o r r eC h u c k . . . .
, 87 Facebookshop lets fans "share" Research issueda report earlier
r n Therian, att.................82
M
items they like with friends with this year that said there is little
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t a simple click. evidencethat social commerceis
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l v l a h o n e J 0 h n . . , . . , . . . , . . , .W a n g a 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C 1 2 need to go where our cus-
. y, .87 T "A/e a profitable growth strategy.
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i lMi . . Without "measurable suc-
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, 8.
M c C l e s k e y , t t . . . . . . . . . . . CW e s t , a v i d . . . . . . . . . . .B.l . . .
5(0 2 D J . chief branding officer at vitamin- cess" for large brands over the
F u n gW i 1 1 i a m . . . . . . . 8.4. . . . . .
, . . courseof the next year,Forrester
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li 1 . . n A
€ M o s k o w , 0 b e r t . . . . . .B l. . . .
R .. , recting fans to the Facebookshop said, companies that herald
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y, M7 5u Za S . launched in February through Facebook the next big thing in
as
! emails and its Twitter feed.The e-conrm6rce have "theiredence
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