The document discusses social shopping, defining it as consumers using social media to share purchases and influencing each other's buying decisions. It categorizes social shoppers into four types and outlines five types of social shopping platforms, emphasizing the importance of user-generated content and social proof in influencing purchases. Retailers are encouraged to leverage these insights to drive traffic and sales, integrate online and in-store experiences, and adapt their marketing strategies accordingly.

1. THE SOCIAL SHOPPER
How Retailers Can Connect With Customers
Marisa Peacock
the Strategic Peacock
North American Home Furnishings Association #NAHFA
Winter Market, Las Vegas
January 21, 2015

2. WHAT IS SOCIAL SHOPPING?
Social shopping refers to
consumers who use social
networking services and sites
to share their latest purchases,
deals, coupons, product
reviews, want lists, and other
shopping finds.
#NAHFA

3. WHO IS A SOCIAL SHOPPER?
Social shoppers are social media users who strongly agree with the statement:
“the brands and products my friends use influence my own purchase decisions.”
#NAHFA

4. HOW MANY FRIENDS DO
YOU HAVE?
The average number of Facebook friends of US Facebook users in 2014, by age group
#NAHFA

5. FRIENDSHIPTRUMPS
RESEARCH
Researchers from Oxford, Harvard and the
University of Limerick found that:
Community members randomly copy the choices made
by other members in the recent past so that products
whose popularity levels have recently grown the fastest
are more likely to be selected, whether or not they are
most popular overall.
#NAHFA

6. TYPES OF SOCIAL SHOPPERS
• Efficiency Sprint Shopper
• The Peer Shopper
• The In-the-Know Shopper
• Impulse Buying Shopper
#NAHFA

7. EFFICIENCY SPRINT SHOPPER
• Uses social media to help zero
in rapidly on consumer-
generated information to make
sensible purchases
• Looks at top-rated reviews for
best results
• Relies on group think to make
decisions
• Uses sites likeYelp or
recommendation engines.
#NAHFA

8. THE PEER SHOPPER
• Relies heavily on
recommendations and tips
from friends
• Trust their friends more
than other sources
• Uses Facebook as their
primary network for
gathering insights
#NAHFA

9. THE IN-THE-KNOW SHOPPER
• Cultivates a following based
on their insider status
• Mentions or tags brands/
products in posts or updates
• Craves connections with
brands/products
• UsesTwitter, check-ins to
broadcast purchases, visits
#NAHFA

10. THE IMPULSE BUYING
SHOPPER
• Suffers from FOMO - fear of
missing out on great deals
• Uses daily deal sites, searches
for coupon codes before
buying
• Shares deals to friends to
receive incentives
• Participates in online give-
aways, contests and other social
promotions
#NAHFA

11. 5 CATEGORIES FOR SOCIAL
SHOPPING
Group Shopping Sites
Sites like Groupon or Living Social that encourage
groups of people to buy together at wholesale
prices.
Shopping Communities
Using the wisdom of crowds, users communicate
and aggregate information about products, prices,
and deals. Many sites allow users to create custom
shopping lists and share them with friends.
Recommendation Engines
sites that provide customers opportunities to write
reviews and offer advice to fellow shoppers.
Shopping Marketplaces
Sites like Polyvore or Etsy that bring sellers and
buyers together to connect and transact. The
marketplace affords buyers and sellers methods to
connect and communicate whilst also performing
the role of e-commerce facilitator for sellers and
discovery engine for buyers.
Shared Shopping
Sites that allow shoppers to form ad hoc
collaborative shopping groups in which one person
can drive an online shopping experience for one or
more other people, using real-time communication
among themselves and with the retailer.
#NAHFA

12. WHAT SOCIAL SHOPPING
LOOKS LIKE
Facebook: social shoppers are more likely to have Facebook
profiles over all other social networks
#NAHFA
source: Netbase

13. WHAT SOCIAL SHOPPING
LOOKS LIKE
Twitter: 75% of social shoppers haveTwitter profiles
#NAHFA
source: Netbase

14. WHAT SOCIAL SHOPPING
LOOKS LIKE
Instagram: on Instagram, 45% of social shoppers are influenced to
purchase a product in at least one category (homewares, cosmetics, etc)
#NAHFA
source: Netbase

15. WHAT SOCIAL SHOPPING
LOOKS LIKE
Pinterest: 52% of social shoppers indicated that they look to
Pinterest for product inspiration
#NAHFA
source: Netbase

16. WHAT SOCIAL SHOPPING
LOOKS LIKE
Blogs: Before making a purchase in at least one product
category, 64% of social shoppers consult message boards or
blogs for inspiration
#NAHFA
source: Netbase

17. WHAT SOCIAL SHOPPING
LOOKS LIKE
Reviews: 75% of social shoppers prefer consumer reviews, over
expert reviews, before making their purchases.
#NAHFA
source: Netbase

18. BEST PRACTICES

19. HOW RETAILERS CAN
CONNECT WITH SHOPPERS
Marketers can leverage social shopping to drive traffic,
sales, and loyalty and become the ultimate influencer.
Let’s learn how to:
• Show Social Proof
• Analyze sharing
behaviors
• Create a new
vocabulary
• Integrate online and
in-store experiences
#NAHFA

20. SHOW SOCIAL PROOF
Convince visitors to take an action by showing the support of
hundreds or thousands of “likes” or testimonies from people
they may know.
#NAHFA

21. MAKE SHARING EASY
• encourage customers to share
what’s in their cart after check-
out
• offer promotional codes to those
that share their purchases with
friends & family
• ask/reward customers to
Instagram/Tweet their wares
after purchase

22. ANALYZE SHARING
BEHAVIORS
• Monitor and measure what
items get shared the most
from your site
• Identify the social sites that
drive the most traffic to your
site (and lead to conversions)
• Listen & respond to online
conversations to offer
suggestions, tips, promotions
#NAHFA

23. CREATE A NEWVOCABULARY
• Learn what words customer are using to describe your products.
• Incorporate those words into messaging & social targeted
advertising.
#NAHFA

24. INTEGRATE ONLINE &
IN-STORE EXPERIENCES
• Optimize your store’s wi-fi. Can customers connect easily?
• Make check out mobile. Can customers use mobile coupons easily?
• Buy Online, Pick Up In Store. Show inventory for local customers.
#NAHFA

25. WHAT IS SHOWROOMING?
Showrooming: when customers
use a mobile device to compare
prices online to in-store prices, and
then leave the showroom to buy
online. (46% of people in the US
showroom)
Reverse Showrooming: when
consumers go online to research
products, but then head to a bricks-
and-mortar store to complete their
purchase. (69% of people in the US
reverse-showroom)
#NAHFA
source: BI Intelligence
source: BI Intelligence

26. WHATYOU NEEDTO KNOW
ABOUT SHOWROOMING
Amazon.com remains the No. 1 place where
showroomers end up making their purchases,
but it's an even more popular destination for
reverse showroomers who ultimately buy
elsewhere.
Location-based technology can engage
customers while they are in-store and provide
them with personalized offers on the item
they are looking at or mobile-only promotions
as they walk by a store. Personalized mobile
notifications can turn browsers into buyers.
42% of consumers using a mobile device
while in-store spend more than $1,000, while
only 21% of shoppers without a phone spend
as much.
#NAHFA
source: Interactive Advertising Bureau
source: BI Intelligence

27. QUESTIONS?
marisa@strategicpeacock.com
www.strategicpeacock.com
@marisacp51
THANKYOU!