By Jason Weaver
Jan. 27, 2011
2010 was a watershed year for social media. More brands recognized the powerful impact of a robust social presence.
Last year, social media users increasingly turned to their online networks for advice and recommendations about products and a richer, more social shopping experience. To harness this trend, savvy companies also began to embrace the notion of social commerce. A broad term, ‘social commerce’ includes everything from user reviews on e-commerce sites to location-based group deals to mobile commerce. The predicted pace of social commerce adoption is staggering: 86 percent of retailers and consumer manufacturers plan to implement a social commerce strategy in 2011, says Altimeter Group, up from just 20 percent in 2010.
As part of the social commerce trend, companies are beginning to tie their brands’ Facebook Pages to various types of direct sales opportunities. It’s a natural progression: The average Facebook user is connected to 80 pages, groups, or events. Plus, those who “Like” a brand are 41 percent more likely to recommend products and 28 percent more likely to continue using them. (via
Forbes) . This is especially promising considering e-commerce’s own impressive rise. The 2010 holiday season brought online retailers 29 percent more sales in Q4 2010 than Q4 2009 (
Shop.org and Forrester Research.) J.P. Morgan predicts that U.S. online sales will increase 13.2 percent to $187 billion this year. Globally, the e-commerce is expected to jump to a staggering $963 billion by 2013, according to
TechCrunch.
Even Facebook itself has recognized the trend. A newly formed commerce partnerships group has begun working with retailers and vendors to help introduce more e-commerce friendly features to the network, according to
BusinessWeek. In three to five years, 10 percent to 15 percent of total consumer spending in developed countries may go through sites such as Facebook, according to Mike Fauscette, an analyst at research firm IDC in Framingham, Mass., see
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2010/tc20101217_877527.htm.