Why and how social commerce works and how to use it in your eCommerce sites.

1. How Social Buying Works
Six Principles of Social Buying
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

2. Why Social Commerce Makes Sense?
Casual conversations regarding shopping happens all the time.
Consumers generally either want to ask their friends or experts about a
shopping decision or want to share their new purchase with friends.
Social commerce can result in measurable ROI, by measuring referral rates
and repeat customers.
Social media is one of the most effective ways of brand activation.
Examples of social commerce:
- recently P&G launched Pampers.com on Facebook in collaboration with
Amazon.
- according to Eventbrite, every Facebook share generates $2.53 in ticket
sales.
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

3. Principle # 1: Social Proof
We often look at what others are buying to resolve our own uncertainty.
In almost all eCommerce stores there are things like:
- best selling items
- recommended items
- people who bought this also bought.
How to implement this in your strategy:
- wish-list sharing
- best selling items, most liked among your friends etc.
- your friends recommended items
- most shared items
- social media reviews
- social recommendation systems
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

4. Principle # 2: Authority
We often look at the authority before making a buying decision. This
authority can be a “self-proclaimed” reviewer or a subject-matter expert
(designer, hair-stylist etc.).
Things like “Four out of five doctors recommend...”, reviews on leading
blogging platforms.
How to implement it in your strategy:
- get reviews from leading bloggers.
- make copy of content refer to subject matter experts.
- get professional reviewers to review the product(s).
- user forums.
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

5. Principle # 3: Scarcity
We often instinctively assign more value to the scarce resources. Resources
that are scarce are usually considered more valuable.
In classic marketing this is exploited as:
- limited time offers
- limited access
- limited availability items
- special editions.
How to implement this in your strategy:
- provide exclusive deals to select customers
- provide limited time offers on certain categories
- provide geographically restricted deals
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

6. Principle # 4: Liking
We naturally emulate the people we like or admire or find attractive.
Use of celebrity brand ambassadors uses this concept of liking and
personality influence, similarly use of models for product advertisements
uses same principle.
How to implement this in your strategy:
- social network store fronts
- ask your network features in the shops
- celebrity users of the store
- affiliate programs.
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

7. Principle # 5: Consistency
When we aren’t sure about a decision, we generally do what we have been
doing based on our past experience.
General lifestyle ads that are consistent with viewers’ life styles, give free
trials, free membership schemes etc.
How to implement this in your strategy:
- user forums
- user galleries
- social media reviews
- buying history, so that people can buy same items again
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

8. Principle # 6: Reciprocity
We generally like to repay favors whether they are asked for or not. Also
this makes us feel good and also because this is socially rewarded.
In classic marketing CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives,
sponsorships etc. are some of the examples where marketing invokes this
principle.
How to implement this in your strategy:
- group buying
- allowing users to share deals with their friends
- virtual points that users can gift to each other (possibly a scheme part of
virtual points that can ONLY be used with friends which gets their friends
some discounts).
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

9. How To Convert This To Action?
Following roadmap can be used to develop a strong and measurable social
commerce strategy:
Step 1: define current status quo. Define and measure key performance
indicators as follows:
- viral coefficient of users: how many users recommend other users.
- traffic coming from recommendations.
- sales coming from recommendations.
Step 2. define promotional schemes so that users recommend other users
e.g. discounts at the check out time if purchase is shared with Facebook
friends.
Step 3: define affiliate programs and manage them closely.
Step 4: measure results closely as any other marketing activity.
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de

10. About Us
Coeus Solutions GmbH is based in Munich, Berlin and Lahore.
Developing eCommerce and Internet applications on web, social and
mobile.
Provide consulting services in increasing sales and user retention.
Work closely with clients to develop strategies for engaging customers
closely.
Coeus Solutions GmbH
Munich | Berlin
Email: sales@coeus-solutions.de
Web: www.coeus-solutions.de