From: http://www.imediaconnection.com/article_full.aspx?id=31916

A quick and dirty guide to social commerce

• Jim Nichols

Websites Posted on May 31, 2012

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Social commerce is one of the hottest digital sectors. From the explosive growth of Groupon and Pinterest to the widespread implementation of social sign-on across brand and e-commerce sites, it's plain to see that many companies are scrambling to leverage social networks and influence in service of their business goals.

Booz and Company estimated that $30 billion in goods and services will be sold within social networks by 2015.


On-network sales are just a segment of the total range of services and vendors that comprise the "social commerce" segment.
The basic concept of social commerce -- that social influence and communication networks can be leveraged for business -- is nothing new. What is different today is that the explosive growth of social networks, coupled with the availability of connected tools within and outside of such networks, has given people even greater reach and influence over one another.
With so many social options available, it is critical that marketers take an objectives-based approach to evaluating and selecting social commerce tactics and partners for their businesses. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Understanding social influence

For millennia, people have been influenced by the ideas and actions of others. With the advent of social media, the number of people that we influence and that influence us has grown markedly. For example, without social media, a highly satisfied customer might evangelize your product to perhaps 10 people. With social media, that number can now easily exceed 100, or 1000, or 10,000. Further, the ability to measure and track social influence is dramatically increased by digital social platforms.

Photo: Hans Põldoja

The influence of a particular individual or institution varies -- this is based upon a number of factors. These factors include the:

• Size of their overall network
• Level of perceived expertise on a topic
• Credibility of the person
• Likelihood of amplification

It may sound complicated, but in reality it's all rather intuitive.

What do we mean by "social commerce?"

At its core, social commerce refers to the use of user contributions and interactions to help sell products and services.

 
Photo: PhotoSteve101

Ultimately, this means using social networks and media to help people become aware of options, consider their choices, make purchase decisions, and eliminate friction in the buying process. We all want to make better choices, and the process of gathering information to make those decisions can be made easier through our relationships with others.

The six types of social commerce solutions

There are a variety of categorization models available to "bucket" social commerce solutions and companies. The European agency SyZyGy developed an excellent categorization model for social commerce solutions and providers. Those who are looking for more than a top-line view of the category would do well to visit the site Social Commerce Today. I'm going to do my best to do it justice by providing a capsule summary of the market segmentation model, which classifies categories and companies into six groups:
Social ShoppingThe common denominator in this set of services is empowering people to simultaneously shop online with others. The category encompasses group buying (e.g., Groupon and Living Social), socially empowered shopping experiences (i.e., an online store using Facebook Connect to enable a richer and more interactive shopping experience onsite), stores within social networks (e.g., Facebook stores), group gifting (e.g., eBay's GroupGifts service), and social shopping portals such as Kaboodle.
Ratings and Reviews One of the most ubiquitous forms of social commerce, these services allow consumers to rate and leave comments about goods and services. The largest such platform is probably Amazon.com, which includes ratings and comments on virtually every item offered. While we often think about these as simple text based recommendations, services such as ExpoTV and Zuberance have expanded this category to include video and encourage recommendations.
Recommendations and RatingsThis category focuses more on recommendations for specific audiences, rather than universal availability -- social referral programs (e.g., Extole) fall squarely into this category. The key difference between these offerings and those in the previous category is that the recommendations group generally uses the personal networks of participants to spread the message, whereas the services in the previous category are available to any viewer.
Forums and CommunitiesForums and communities have been around almost as long as the internet itself. In the context of social commerce, these terms refer to brand-sponsored venues for the sharing of information. Examples might include a Mercedes Owners Club, or the American Express Open Small Business community. Here people organically share information and advice related to categories and products.
Social Media OptimizationThis category refers to the use of social media to drive more qualified traffic to an online sales environment. It encompasses using social for SEO, link building, offer and deal feeds, company news feeds, and other means by which links can be disseminated.
Social Ads and ApplicationsHere the focus is on socially empowered ad messages. The range includes socialized ads, social shopping apps, and remote catalogue or shopping units.

Evaluating social commerce options for your brand

In order to identify the best strategies and tactics, it can be helpful to start with a simple assessment focused on six key questions:
What are the business goals of this effort, and how will performance be measured? Selecting a platform should begin with a review of your goals and measures. Different platforms will be able to "move the needle" in different ways and to different degrees.
What channels are you trying to address, and what is their relative importance? Many products and services sell through a variety of channels. "Own" stores, online retailers, supermarkets, and department stores are just a few of the options. The set of channels you use should play an important role in determining the social commerce approaches you deploy.
Companies that sell goods primarily or exclusively online were among the first movers in social commerce, both because many of the tools were designed for online stores and because tracking the impact of social commerce on sales is easier when digital actions can be tied directly to specific purchases. Offline retailers and brands sold primarily in brick and mortar stores have generally been slower movers in social commerce, but that is changing. A great example is Procter and Gamble, which was among the first CPGs to incorporate social influence into its websites and other marketing experiences. Additionally, the company has experimented with intriguing new retail formats like Facebook stores in order to determine their potential impact.
What are the bottlenecks in your customer flow?The concept of a buying funnel -- the progression of consumers from awareness to purchase has driven marketing decisions for decades. Chances are the other elements of your marketing mix are already aligned to the greatest communications needs. If so, then the challenge of selecting the best social commerce tools is a relatively simple one. The needs of businesses change over time and the range of appropriate social commerce tools may change or expand over that time. For example, if your biggest problem was awareness and your first social tactics focus on that area, increases in awareness may shift your greatest marketing need to increasing conversion rates. A second social commerce tool -- like a review and ratings platform -- might then make a great deal of sense.
What aspects of the product or service are most important to prospects?Understanding the attributes that matter most to consumers is a critical step in making the right social commerce decisions. Ensure that the social commerce platform you choose has the "legs" to communicate the most important product information and attributes. Some tools like ratings offer the advantages of ease and universality, while others -- like video reviews and social shopping -- provide much richer platforms, but with perhaps less reach.

Final thoughts

Photo: Paul Bica

This is truly a fascinating new arena -- one that is thriving because of the "perfect storm" of new buying options, ubiquitous connectivity, and the explosion of social tools available.
As next steps, I suggest you talk to a few of the companies making news in the space. These companies can provide a great deal of color and granularity for the sectors in which they operate. I truly believe that there is a tool (or set of tools) out there for most brands, and that the first movers will reap tremendous benefits in the months and years ahead. Why not be one of them?

Nearly alf of consumers will be social shoppers- Barclays

From: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/advice/category/158-web/item/27348-nearly-half-of-consumers

Nearly half of consumers will be ‘social shoppers’ by 2021 – Barclays

23.05.2012

Nearly half of consumers will be ‘social shoppers’ by 2021 – Barclays

Sales from social commerce, driven by the influence of social media, are expected to more than double within the next five years, according to research from Barclays.

Research conducted by Barclays in the UK has found that the next generation of ‘social shopper’ could be a force to be reckoned with by 2021.
In this not-so-terribly-distant future, 41pc of the consumer population is expected to be influenced by or use social media to make a purchase. The figure is higher among 25 to 34-year-olds, expected to reach 73pc – which is unsurprising as 45pc of this group are already engaging in what Barclays have called ‘s-commerce’.

Recommendations and social influence

It’s estimated that around 70pc of online shoppers are also active social networkers, while websites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest have blurred the boundaries between retail channels. However, as of yet, social media is not a direct sales platform. It’s more of a referral channel where consumer sentiment can be gauged and influence purchasers. While people are generally on social networks to socialise, consumers on these sites are still quite receptive to new ideas, suggestions and recommendations, and therein lies an opportunity for retailers.
“When someone you know and trust makes a recommendation, it’s extremely powerful, and we’ve seen that the social shopper isn’t afraid to express online how much they want, love or dislike a product or service,” said Richard Lowe, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays. “This, in turn, creates a feedback loop on a product or brand. As more people post reviews, more people read them and give their own feedback, which is picked up by a new group of consumers. Retailers should be exploring ways to tap into these communities in order to create more personalised shopping experiences.”
This influential nature of social media is expected to translate into stg£3.3bn of sales in the next five years – more than double the current figure of stg£1.4bn – while direct sales are expected to rise from stg£210m to stg£300m. Fashion, footwear, music, film and grocery retailers are expected to see the most significant gains.

The Social Mobile Shopping World

The Social Mobile Shopping World [Infographic]

Over half of all mobile shoppers share their purchases on social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest

By Shawn Hess · June 1, 2012 · 1 Comment

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We all know that the internet has taken the place of the good old fashioned passtime of window shopping. There’s no need to wander the streets gazing into window displays or searching for new products in the stores that line the mall. Just log onto your computer and let the shopping begin. In fact, logging onto your computer isn’t even necessary anymore.
Half of American cellular subscribers now have smartphones which allow them to surf the net and make merchandise purchases. 20% also have tablet computers which makes on-the-go buying even easier. Here’s what’s really interesting. 55% of mobile device shoppers share their purchases online using social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
This makes a lot of sense. Why? Many internet shoppers actually consult online reviews and product testimonials before they decide on a purchase. It’s only fair that they share their experiences online once they’ve made a purchase. Besides, who doesn’t want to brag about their latest gadget or once in a lifetime deal?
This next infographic from SteelHouse.Com gives us a lovely visual rundown on smartphone window shopping and how we are sharing our experiences online. It’s loaded with fun facts, but more importantly, it speaks to where most purchasing decisions are going to be made in the future.
Take a look:

(Lead image courtesy of Broadband Expert)

Related Items Facebook mobile apps Mobile Marketplace Mobile Shopping Pinterest Twitter

About Shawn Hess
Shawn Hess is a staff writer for WebProNews and an expert procrastinator. Follow Shawn on Twitter, on StumbleUpon, and Google+.

View all posts by Shawn Hess →

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Multiply Indonesia Expands Further into Indonesia

Multiply is to online selling what LiveJournal has been to blogshopping in Singapore.  This is a mirror article to the one a few weeks back about how re-purposed social selling has changed LiveJournal.  SO now we see how social media platform providers are beginning to respond to the blogshopping phenomenon which is now arguably fueling growth of these social media sites.

As they recognize the significance of this industry, they are starting to take steps to develop these platforms into social commere structures.  What this presents to blogshop owners is that it offers an option for them for growth and legitimacy.  Whereas previously blogshops had to convert to shopping carts to gain acceptance, they now can remain hosted on these sites while gaining a measure of recognition as e-commerce destinations as more proper selling tools like shopping carts and payment facilities are enabled.  Thus it is possible for blogshops to now be permanently hosted on social sites like this.

From: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/bisindonesia/multiply-indonesia-eyes-more-expansion-in-indonesia/441732

After establishing itself in Indonesia earlier this year, one of the world’s largest social networking sites wants to expand its workforce by four times and bring 100,000 local merchants into the site by the end of this year.

Multiply, which combines social networking and an online marketplace, has about 2 million active users in Indonesia and more than 35,000 merchants on its site. It brings in about 20 million unique visitors each month, about 7 million of which come from Indonesia.

“We just released Multiply Commerce on May 10, and within a week there were already 1,000 transactions happening through our payment gateway,” Daniel Tumiwa, the country manager for Multiply Indonesia, said on the sidelines of the Multiply Commerce launch on Wednesday.

“This year is the time for online transactions to take off in Indonesia,” he said. “On average, we have about 2,000 new merchants every month who upload about 50,000 new products per month.”

Multiply, launched in August 2004, was started as a social networking site for families and friends before Facebook existed.

Once users began utilizing the site to sell their products online, though, it decided to expand into an online marketplace. In September last year, the Myriad International Holdings unit of Naspers Limited acquired a controlling interest in Multiply.

It established a subsidiary in Indonesia last March and currently employs 37 people. The company plans to move to a large office in South Jakarta next week, in line with its plan to hire 150 employees by the end of this year.

Peter Pezaris, co-founder and chief executive of Multiply, visited Jakarta in February and said the US company was committed to make Indonesia its anchor market.

“By next year, Indonesia will be our biggest office, even bigger than the one in the US,” Pezaris said. Multiply’s office in Jakarta is its third after the US and the Philippines.

According to Daniel, more than 90 percent of the transactions in the site took place offline.

“I don’t know exactly how many transactions happened so far, but based on our internal survey, the average value per transaction is about Rp 150,000 [$17.50],” he said.

“One of the keys of ecommerce is trust and recommendations,” said Andy W. Djiwandono, vice president for marketing and business development at Multiply Indonesia. “That is why we established ‘trusted seller.’ ”

Although users can register as members for free, the company provides several options for premium accounts.

“At first I was selling stuff in Multiply just for fun. Within a short period of time, my business grew and now I am more serious about selling baby products and eco-friendly products,” said Anita, one of Multiply’s sellers who joined the site about two years ago.

Most of the sellers on the site, Daniel said, are women and people trying to earn extra income despite already working full-time jobs.

Multiply’s revenue streams come from advertising, premium memberships and commissions for each transaction completed through its payment gateway.

“We charge 3.9 percent for every transaction that is using our shopping cart,” Daniel said, adding that the most popular payment system was KlikBCA.

The site also supports other bank transactions and credit card payments through PayPal.

Another article:

Blogshopping is HUGE in Indonesia, although it is not called blogshopping.

Social shopping site Multiply to relocate its global headquarters to Indonesia

29th January 2012 by Jon Russell

Social shopping site Multiply has announced plans to relocate its global headquarters from Boca Raton, Florida, to Jakarta, Indonesia, according to a report from Daily Social.

The move is a rare example of a company choosing an emerging market over the US, as it is typically made the other way round, but there is much sense to the reshuffle which will bring the company closer to the majority of its users.

The service, which is reportedly the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, has “more than 100,000 online merchants across the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam”, and CEO Peter Pezaris explains that the move is driven by increased opportunities:

We chose Jakarta because the opportunity is so large. It’s such a fast growing economy. So many people are using Multiply in Indonesia, it’s such an important market for us.

Multiple is not new to Southeast Asia and its existing Jakarta office houses more than 50 of its 126 global staff, while it also has a presence in the Philippines. Indonesia is its largest market, as it told the Jakarta Globe, and statistics from last year showed it drew 7 million monthly visitors to its 34,000 Indonesian sellers. These number are now likely to be significantly higher, particularly given that the company saw 2,000 new sellers from Indonesia joining each month.

In addition to the move, which was announced on location in Indonesia, Multiply is giving a nice perk to customers by waiving all shipping cost and transaction fees until March. It also has news for Indonesia, where it is expanding payment options to allow XL Tunai customers to make transactions via mobile operator XL Axiata, and Prima ATMs are also supported.

The company is not shy on making bold moves and it actually began life as a photo sharing social network which rivalled Facebook and others.

On noticing that its personal pages feature were increasingly being used to build online shops, it revamped its offering with the introduction Multiply Marketplace and moved down a completely new avenue as a social shopping service.

It has placed significant emphasis on Indonesia in the past and it ran the beta version of Multiply 5.0 exclusively in the country, before a wider pilot in Southeast Asia preceded the global launch of the enhanced platform in June 2010.

In spite of its pivot, Multiply’s photo sharing service still remains popular and, according to the company, it is the second largest social network in Southeast Asia — behind Facebook, of course — while it has “millions of additional users” in the US, Brazil and India.

The relocation of Multiply’s global office will be completed over the next 12 months, during which a number of personnel and positions will be relocated to Indonesia, the company said.

Image credit: Shutterstock user Russ Beinder

Yet another article on Multiply:

Multiply 5.0 e-commerce platform being tested in Indonesia

12th April 2011 by Francis Tan

What started as a social networking platform for photo and video sharing has evolved into a social shopping site that connects the sellers in a virtual world with eager spenders. Multiply 5.0, the photo-sharing social network turned robust e-commerce platform, is currently in the works and is being tested in Indonesia.
The beta version of Multiply 5.0 is initially available at Indonesia.multiply.com and according to the Multiply blog, the new platform will integrate an e-commerce catalog store, shopping cart and payment system designed to simplify the process not only for buyers but inventory and order management for sellers as well. Multiply’s high-resolution photo upload facility will still be present.

There is still no official date when Multiply 5.0 will be released to the public, but Multiply Indonesia will put the various facilities and features in the new version to the test in the real world.
Multiply recently expanded in Jakarta, Indonesia, which is expected to be the second largest office after its main headquarters in Florida, USA. Multiply Indonesia has 34,000 sellers network (with 2,000 new sellers every month) and is being graced by 7 million visitors each month.

From: http://mashable.com/2011/12/18/social-consumers-infographic/

How to Influence Purchasing Decisions On The Web [INFOGRAPHIC]

December 19, 2011 by Lauren Drell 40

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When savvy consumers are in the market for something — a new pair of kicks, a sweet DSLR camera, hair pomade, a toaster — they turn to the web, knowing there’s a wealth of knowledge and information to be had. But where on the vast Interwebs do they look? Well, that depends on what they want to buy.
According to data from M Booth and Beyond, different product categories compel people to seek information and reviews from different sources on the web. Consumers tend to go the company website for electronics, they rely on search for travel and they go to discussion forums to see what people think about different car models. Consequently, consumer electronics companies better have a pimped-out website, travel brands ought to put some dough into SEO and car companies better pay attention to what people are saying about their vehicles’ performance.
SEE ALSO: Social Consumers and the Science of Sharing The infographic below explains where consumers go for product information — suggesting to marketers that some aspects of digital marketing deserve more attention than others. Marketers, do these consumer behavior findings align with your experiences at work? And customers, do your actions mirror those in the study? Let us know in the comments below.

Social Shopping concepts

This is a good outline of social shopping concept:

From: http://www.davantidigital.com/blog/the-rise-of-social-shopping/

Social shopping does not refer to your weekend trip to the mall with friends. Rather, Social Shopping is a method of online shopping where shoppers’ friends get involved in the shopping experience. Social Using web technology, social shopping is an attempt to bring social networking to the online shopping world and mimic the social interactions found when shopping in stores.
Social shopping can generally be divided into five categories:

• Group Shopping – Group shopping sites encourage groups of people to buy together for wholesale prices. Think Costco for the online world. Group shopping sites include: Half Off Depot, Groupon, LivingSocial, and BuyWithMe.

• Shopping communities – This method of social shopping attempts to bring like-minded people together online to discuss, share and shop. Users communicate and compile information about products, prices and deals. Many community sites allow users to create custom shopping lists and share them with friends via email, messenger or social network site. Shopping communities include Listia, which specializes in exchanging free stuff.

• Recommendation Engines – These sites allow shoppers to provide advice to fellow shoppers online. Sites that provide this online social advice are: ShopSocially, Left of Trend and Blippy. All of these sites encourage conversations around purchases with a user’s friends.

• Shopping Marketplaces – You can compare this social shopping category is a farmers market or bazaar. The marketplace provides a place for independent sellers to share their products in a forum. Buyers and sellers can connect and communicate in the marketplace.

• Shared Shopping – Shared shopping includes catalog-based ecommerce sites, which allow shoppers to form online shopping groups in which one person can essentially manage an online shopping experience for someone else using real-time communication. To use this form of social shopping, shoppers must download the software which includes DecisionStep’s Shop Together software.

As the ultimate shopping season is upon us, what better time to explore the world of social shopping? Not quite sure what to buy for that picky friend? Connect with mutual friends and share advice and ideas without ever leaving the computer screen!

The 6 Dimensions of Social Commerce: Rated and Reviewed

Another good explanation of SOCIAL COMMERCE.

From: http://socialcommercetoday.com/the-6-dimensions-of-social-commerce-rated-and-reviewed/

The 6 Dimensions of Social Commerce: Rated and Reviewed

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With social media marketers increasingly seeking to monetize their efforts, the social commerce toolbox is growing. And it can be difficult to keep up with what’s out there.  So here’s our attempt to organize social commerce into six dimensions, each based on a general toolset, with a quick review and our own rating of the value we believe they bring to the social commerce table.  Of course, there are many ways to skin the social commerce cat, and the value each dimension and associated toolset can generate is dependent on how it is implemented – this is just our way of understanding the area…  Let us know what you think!

Dimension 1: Social Shopping

Description: The social shopping toolset allows people to share the act of online shopping together (synchronous shopping).  The toolset includes

• Group Buying: Enabling people to use their collective buying power to buy together to get a better deal (e.g. Dell Swarm, Adidas Freestripes, Intel Fan Plan)
• Co-Browsing: Enabling people to shop together on an e-commerce site at the same time (synchronous shopping) with synchronised page views and integrated chat (Charlotte Russe, Mattel)
• Group Gifting: Enabling people to buy a gift collectively (e.g. Apple iTunes Group Giftcard)
• Ask-Your-Network: Feature embedded into product pages enabling people to get realtime advice and recommendations from their own trusted social circle by posting questions directly to their news feeds (e.g. Charlotte Russe, Mattel)
• Social Network Storefronts: Enable people to buy where they connect within the walled gardens of a social network and solicit opinions and recommendation from their online social circle (Best Buy, Reebok)
• Social Shopping Portals: Enable people to shop multiple stores together using social shopping tools, often combined with ratings and reviews, and recommendations and referrals (e.g Kaboodle, ThisNext)

Donut of Truth: Social Shopping

-  Cost of software Appeal limited to people who wish to shop socially

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+   Makes shopping social again Slots seamlessly into e-commerce strategy

Review: With new tools bringing e-commerce to social networks and vice versa – such as Facebook Connect, social shopping is the new motor driving the social commerce trend.  Promotes purchase decisions primarily through the ‘liking’ social intelligence heuristic (see previous post for explanation on the psychology of how social commerce works), allowing people to shop with people they know, like and trust.  Adds emotion into the e-commerce mix, and enables realtime recommendations.  DecisionStep has measured sales impact of social shopping software +25% in shopping cart, +50% in average order value.
Solution Providers: DecisionStep, Fluid, Wisheo, eWinWin.
Tags: Social Shopping, Group Buying, Dell Swarm, Adidas Freestripes, Intel Fan Plan, Co-Browsing, Charlotte Russe, Mattel, Group Gifting, Apple iTunes Group Giftcard, AYN, Social Network Storefronts, Best Buy, Reebok, Social Shopping Portals, Kaboodle, ThisNext.
Bottom Line: Great social commerce solution for online retailers.

Dimension 2: Ratings & Reviews

Description: Ratings & Reviews provide independent third-party evaluation of a product or service review, with an opportunity for viewers to contribute and discuss.  The toolset includes

• Customer Ratings & Reviews: The skinny from real customers, either integrated into an e-commerce product page, a social network page, a customer reviews site and/or in customer news feeds (e.g. Amazon, iTunes, Buzzillions, Epinions)
• Expert Ratings & Reviews: The view from the independent voice of authority, professional or prosumers, either integrated into an e-commerce product page, a social network page, a product reviews site, an online magazine and/or in news feeds (e.g. Metacritic)
• Sponsored Reviews: Paid for reviews, either customers or experts on social media platforms (e.g. SponsoredReviews, PayPerPost)
• Customer Testimonials: Customer stories typically published to an e-commerce site, allowing comments and discussion (e.g. Bazaarvoice ‘Stories’)

Donut of Truth: Ratings & Reviews

-   Cost of reviews software Cost of commissioning / incentivising reviews

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+   Established and proven social commerce solution Slots easily into e-commerce solutions

Review: If social shopping is the new kid on the block, Ratings & Reviews are the perennial Godfather of social commerce – around since 1995 (with Amazon) and a proven solution for boosting traffic volume, conversion and average order value through ‘word of mouse’.  Work primarily through the ‘social proof‘ and ‘authority‘ SI heuristics, promoting purchase decisions with credible information. ‘New news’ in Ratings & Reviews are review syndication (to social networks), contrast reviews (showing positive and negative reviews), tagged reviews (tagging reviews with keywords), video reviews, geo-tagged mobile reviews and story-based customer testimonials. Bazaarvoice measure impact of Ratings and Reviews to boost conversion by up to 25% – interestingly negative reviews appear not have a detrimental effect on sales; we don’t live in a five-star world and shoppers don’t expect it…
Solutions Providers: Bazaarvoice, PowerReviews, SponsoredReviews, PayPerPost.
Tags: Customer Ratings & Reviews, Expert Ratings & Reviews, Sponsored Reviews, Customer Testimonials, Amazon, iTunes, Buzzillions, Epinions). Metacritic, Sponsored Reviews, PayPerPost, social proof, authority.
Bottom Line: Want a proven solution for ROI on social media? Ratings and Reviews should be your first port of call.

Dimension 3: Recommendations & Referrals

Description: Promotes personal recommendations and referrals within online social circles, often rewarding referrers for their efforts.  Sometimes integrated in social shopping portals (e.g. Kaboodle, This Next) that bundle ratings and reviews and social shopping tools.  The recommendations and referrals toolset includes

• Share With Your Network: (social bookmarking) Recommended products, deals and tips are bookmarked and syndicated to friends, fans and followers
• Referral Programs: Rewarding customers and partners for referring new customers (e.g. Vente-Privée, Gilt, Amazon Affiliates)
• Social Recommendations: Personal shopping recommendations based on profile similarities to other customers (e.g. Apple Genius Recommendations, Amazon Recommendations, Netflix Cinematch, Honk)

Donut of Truth: Recommendations & Referrals

-  Works only when what you sell is genuinely worth recommending

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+   More psychologically powerful than anonymous ratings and reviews Easy to calculate ROI (referral programs)

Review: Whereas ratings and reviews are usually visible to all, recommendations and referrals are personalised endorsements designed to realise the referral value of customers and advocates.  Often take the form of  online versions of traditional customer-get-customer referral-rewards programs (e.g. Sky Introduce a Friend) but can also use syndication tool via Twitter and Facebook to share recommendations with friends, fans and followers.  For example, fashion label Juicy Couture increased conversion rates by 162% using CreateTheGroup’s recommendations and referrals social software. Powered primarily by SI heuristics of liking, scarcity (of information) and reciprocity.  Innovations include social recommender systems (e.g. Stylefeeder, Honk) that automate personal recommendations based on algorithms comparing similarities between customer purchasing histories and profiles.
Solutions Providers: Facebook Connect, PowerReviews Social Megaphone, CreateTheGroup Social Software
Tags: Share With Your Network (SWYN), social bookmarking, Referral Programs, Vente-Privée, Gilt, Amazon Affiliates, Social Recommendations, Apple Genius, Amazon Recommendations, Netflix Cinematch, Facebook Connect, PowerReviews Social Megaphone, Stylefeeder, Twitter, Honk, CreateTheGroup, Juicy Couture., Kaboodle, ThisNext.
Bottom Line: If what you sell is really worth recommending, recommendations and referrals should be top of the social commerce list.

Dimension 4: Forums & Communities

Description: Forums and Community platforms connect people with each other and to a business in a moderated and curated environment. The toolset includes

• User Forums: People offering each other support and solving each others’ task or product problems – members typically customers and/or partners (Apple discussions, Threadless forums, P&G BeingGirl)
• User Galleries: People sharing and discussing video and image content with each other and with the gallery host, around a particular theme (e.g. Burberry Art of the Trench)
• Idea Boards: Online suggestion boards for constructive feedback, often with voting and commenting features (e.g. MyStarbucksIdea, Dell IdeaStorm)
• Q&A Forums: New-style FAQs harnessing user contributions to answer common questions in a structured format (e.g. Bazaarvoice ‘Ask & Answer’, PowerReviews AnswerBox)
• Brand Communities: Private communities of customers/partners, usually with a loyalty or advisory purpose

Donut of Truth: Forums & Communities

-  Resource intensive, require moderation and curation (Starbucks have 40 moderators for their idea forum)

.

+   Easy to use, inexpensive software Can reduce customer support and innovation costs

Review: The forum is the unsung hero of social media, effective; popular and useful.  Can be integrated into social networking platforms to allow personal messaging and status updates to create an increased sense of community.  Promotes purchase decisions primarily through consistency and authority by allowing members to share trusted information with each other and the host. P&G has calculated that its BeingGirl forum is 4x as effective as TV advertising. Innovations in this space include Idea Boards – online suggestion and discussion boards to capture constructive feedback, and user-powered Q&A forums for customer support in a moderated, curated and structured environment.
Solutions Providers: Bazaarvoice, PowerReviews, Salesforce Ideas, Ripple6, Pluck
Tags: User Forums, User Galleries, Idea Boards, Q&A Forums, P&G, Burberry, Starbucks, Dell, Threadless, Brand Communities, Bazaarvoice, PowerReviews, Salesforce Ideas, Ripple6, Pluck
Bottom Line: A powerful long term solution that requires ongoing investment and commitment.

Dimension 5: SMO (Social Media Optimisation)

Description: A toolset designed to attract visitors to websites and website content by promoting and publicising these destination and content through social media. Typically involves seeding marketing collateral to major social media platforms:

• News Feeds: offering syndicated news on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs (RSS) and other social media platforms, providing a resource for exclusive information and (often) special deals (e.g. Dell Outlet, Carrefour FaceShopping)
• Media Sharing: Publishing advertising and promotional content to popular social media platforms such as YouTube, Flickr and Slideshare (e.g. Blendtec Will it Blend Ads), and informational content to Wikipedia (e.g. Skilttles)
• Social Media Events: Running media events in social media space such as webinars, press briefings, contests, screenings, and shows (e.g. Random House Cover Design contests)
• Link Building: Adding linked comments to third party social media content, such as blogs, forums and media sharing sites

Donut of Truth: Social Media Optimisation

-  Time consuming Risk of backfiring if not used as a dialogue platform but platform for  promotional messaging

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+   Great for Google juice Effective at boosting e-commerce traffic

Review: Social Media Optimisation increases traffic volume to e-commerce destinations, both via inbound links from social media and through improvements to search engine rankings driven by these links.  It’s a social media version/complement to SEO (search engine optimisation) Promotes purchase decisions primarily through social proof, scarcity and consistency.  For example by posting amusing online video ads to its own site and to major video sharing sites, food processor manufacturer Blendtec increased sales by 500%. Also of note, confectionary manufacturer Mars replacing product sites with single landing pages – linking to social media platforms (e.g. Skittles).  SMO is typically offered with social media monitoring services.
Solution Providers: Most Social Media Agencies
Tags: News Feeds, Media Sharing, Social Media Events, Link Building, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, social proof, scarcity and consistency, Dell, Blendtec, Carrefour, FaceShopping, Mars, Skittles,
Bottom Line: Steer clear if you see social media as just another messaging channel

Dimension 6: Social Ads & Apps

Description: Branded content in social media in the form of paid advertisements or social applications

• Social Ads – placing advertisements in paid-for media space on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, (and soon) Twitter, as well as on blogs and forums.
• Social Apps – creating branded online applications that support social interaction and user contributions (e.g. Nike+)

Donut of Truth: Social Ads & Apps

-   Need to deliver compelling value for successful uptake (social apps) Low CTR (click through rates) (social ads)

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+   Simple & safe social commerce solution (social ads) Social Apps can add real value to brand proposition

Review: Social Ads and Apps stimulate purchase decisions through the social intelligence mechanisms of ‘consistency’ and (in the case of apps) reciprocity. By clicking on a e-commerce link embedded in an app or ad, the user is making a small psychological commitment to making a purchase. Arguably, social apps outperform social ads here because they also use reciprocity; social applications that solve people’s problems (e.g. motivation and performance tracking in the case of Nike+) can create a sense of psychological indebtedness, making purchase more likely. However, social ads are far simpler to deploy, and are less dependant on insight and creativity – they simply require a compelling reason to click. For example, fast-food chain Chick-fil-A ran a successful Facebook free-sample engagement ad campaign; clicking on the ad revealed a form to receive a mail coupon. The downside of social ads is that they have low click through rates – social media users appear to be more focused on communicating to pay attention to the ads – despite the ability to run highly targeted ads based on profile and social graph.
Solution Providers: Many Social Media Agencies
Tags: Social Advertisements, Social Applications, Facebook, Nike+, Chick-Fil-A
Bottom Line: An easy first step into the world of social commerce
So what do you think?  I’ll add links and amendments later – but until then happy holidays!

Key Trends in Social Commerce

Good description about social commerce:

From: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/03/08/the-key-trends-in-social-commerce/

The Key Trends in Social Commerce

8TH MARCH 2011 by LAUREN FISHER

Social commerce is more than just a buzzword; it’s becoming the de facto way to do business online. It emerged as a result of brands finding new ways to connect with consumers through the open graph, and a customer demand for more fluid interaction with brands. Done correctly, it is a win-win for both the brand and the consumer and there are many new opportunities to use social commerce methods to affect the consumer journey, including to the point of post-purchase.

The brands that have recognised this are experimenting with new platforms on their own website and new ways of doing business on existing social networks. The challenge for brands is to make themselves relevant across these different points of the consumer journey to encourage a purchase without being too intrusive. There are some key trends emerging that many businesses can take advantage of, no matter how big or small you are

Social Shopping Cart

The beauty of the social graph is that you can maintain your social connections across different sites, meaning you have a cohesive consumer experience. Instead of just facing the same homepage of products that everyone else sees, a trend among many sites now is to show you the products your friends have bought or recommended. Levi’s were one of the first to do this and it’s something that many brands have yet to explore. The benefits are clear. If you can go to a site and see all the products that your friends have interacted with in some way, either through a purchase, review or recommendation then you instantly feel closer to the brand or site, because it carries with it your personal connections. You’re not just faced with the brand name everywhere, but the names of your friends so you are likely to spend a lot longer clicking around the site, as well as being more likely to buy. I’d personally like to see more brands implement this on their site in a more intuitive way than just using the Like button next to every product as I believe there’s a keen consumer interest in socialised shopping carts.

Personalised recommendations

Now for some this may seem like brands are getting a little too personal, but tailored recommendations from companies based on your social interactions or preferences is a huge opportunity and one that I think adds to the consumer experience. This is most easily done by implementing Facebook Connect on your site, or something called ‘social sign on’, which means that brands can access your social activity to present you with the products or services that are more tailored to your tastes. A survey of online retailers last year found that over half planned on implementing social sign-on into their sites :

Now the concept of personalised recommendations may not be completely new – Amazon was  an early adopter of this with its ‘You might also like’ option, but the ways that brands can implement this now, certainly are. Best Buy explored this late last year when they used their fans’ Facebook information to offer customised offers, for example if you listed ‘gaming’ as an interest, then you would get a money-off voucher for games.

Shop on Facebook

We only really started seeing Facebook commerce last year but it’s exploded thanks to easy integration, and the likes of specialist providers that make it easy to add customisable shops such as Vendor Shop and Facebook’s recent adoption of iframes. The fact is that people are getting more and more comfortable with shopping on Facebook as we become less inclined to leave the site if that’s where we find brands. One brand that’s doing this and offering users more than just the chance to buy a product on Facebook – is soap.com. Their Facebook store ‘Shop My List’ gives you the option to log in to your personalised list on Facebook so you can easily access and re-order your favourite items, as well as accessing your friends’ lists to discover new products. This is Facebook shopping done really well and shows the flexibility of a platform like Facebook to transform the shopping experience :

Share purchases with friends before buying

For many people shopping is a very social experience anyway, and you often want to get your friends opinions before buying something, particularly when it’s an expensive item. But with the advantages of social media there are many opportunities to access niche or specialist communities that can rate and advise on something before you buy it. One of the areas where this is growing rapidly is fashion. The fashion community online is huge and the site ‘what are you wearing’ have recognised this and brought a social shopping experience to Facebook, through their app. They allow you to add items into your personalised wardrobe and get the opinion of friends and other community members before you buy. Now for many brands this may seem a little worrying, as you open yourself up to the possibility that users will be put off a purchase based on what others say. But the likelihood is that they’re going to feel much more inclined to buy from a site where they have the safety of their friends’ opinion at the click of a button, as the result is a more trustworthy experience.

Social Currency

As social commerce emerges as a way for people to shop, then the way that people pay is also going to evolve. The idea of a virtual currency is far from coming into widespread use outside of the gaming world, but as people expect an interaction with brands to remain the same from platform to platform, we will expect the same when it comes to purchasing products.

This is an area that Facebook, unsurprisingly, is trying to get into, as they just announced that their Facebook Credits system is mandatory for developers to process payments. There is a huge opportunity for a universal virtual currency that someone like Facebook is likely to grab and make mainstream. The process from a consumer perspective is seamless, an easy way of goods both online and physically, as you have one complete ‘social’ bank account of currency. With 600 million users, we have to wonder, could Facebook become the world’s biggest bank?

Rewards for social interactions

One area that’s hugely beneficial both for consumers and companies is the idea of rewards for social-based actions. One of the most common reasons for someone befriending a company through a social network – be it Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare etc. is that we expect some kind of reward in return, such as a money-off coupon. More companies are incentivising people to ‘play’ with them, for example completing a challenge set through Facebook Places upon checkin, or a money-off mobile coupon in return for doing so.

Location is really where this will take off, as consumers realise that with the power of choice comes the power to make companies work hard for their business. We want to be rewarded through entertainment such as a game or challenge – not just following a company or checking in for the sake of it – and in return for this action consumers will expect a monetary reward. This may sound uncomfortable to some companies bu the fact is businesses now have to work harder to maintain customer loyalty than ever before, and social-based rewards are one of the ways to do this.

As blogshops morph into Facebook stores and as owners leverage a range of social media tools into their online stores, it becomes very clear that blogshops appear to be a forerunner to the social shopping models that are flourishing now.

This article highlights the many variants of social shopping, including Facebook stores which are an emerging breed of blogshop models.

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13712375

Let's go 'social shopping'

By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

 

Can the social experience of real shopping help improve web retail?

Offline retailers have long held that online shopping will never replace a visit to the shops because sitting at a computer clicking on links is just not as much fun as hanging out at the mall.

But a quick glimpse at any high street with its rows of closed-down signs, pound shops and charity outlets suggest that consumers don't entirely agree.

Now a new phenomenon - dubbed social shopping - threatens to incorporate the missing social element in online shopping and possibly destroy even more bricks and mortar stores.

Social shopping encompasses a range of ideas, from shopping within social networks, to shopping-specific search engines that use friends recommendations to group buying sites such as Groupon.

Groupon harnesses the power of the crowd to bring people daily deals that they may not even have known they wanted - from manicures to mountain biking.

It has a very simple business model - people sign up for offers and once the required number of people are registered, the deal is confirmed and a voucher is sent to your inbox.

The firm has five million users in the UK alone, and is said to be the fastest growing company ever.
It puts much of its growth down to web-based recommendations - people see a deal and spread it among their online friends but not everyone is convinced by its social credentials.

"There are a lot of myths about how social Groupon is. In the beginning many deals may have been spread via social networks but now it is primarily through a daily e-+mail," said Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, who has recently authored a report on social shopping.

Word-of-mouth may have helped catapult Groupon into the limelight but its quarter of a billion dollar marketing spend probably played an even bigger role, thinks Ms Mulpuru.

Social store As the world's largest social network Facebook is keen that people talk to retailers as well as their friends and it is trying to figure out how to make the most out of social shopping.

It boasts that half of the top 25 retailers use the site but the level of integration varies, from those who simply see it as a way to gain fans to "like" their brands to firms, such as clothing firm Asos, which are happy to allow users to make purchases from within the social network.

Asos is one of Facebook's biggest successes. It puts its full catalogue on the site and its fan page has 800,000 members.

Amazon uses the social network to offer product suggestions based on likes and favourites pulled from users' profile information.

Personalisation

The Tweet Mirror invites your friends into the changing room

It has also introduced gift recommendations which let you know which of your friends have upcoming birthdays and suggests presents for them based on what they have shared with Amazon.

Ticketing firm TicketMaster offers anyone who has bought a ticket on its site the chance to share the purchase information with their Facebook friends. It claims to have increased its revenue as a result of this feature.

Meanwhile Levi's has what Facebook describes as a "social store front", offering users jeans that their friends may have liked and even using information to influence its supply chain. So if people in London are "liking" the skinny jeans most and people in Manchester are "liking" the bootcut style they can simply adjust their stock to match this.

And herein, for Ms Mulpuru, lies the real power of social shopping - as a tool for retailers.
"There is a ton of data that people share about themselves that the retailer can use to make more relevant offers. It is far more a personalisation tactic than about getting or retaining customers," she said.

Facebook's director of business development Christian Hernandez believes that Facebook can help users "connect to brands that they care about" and he reckons that among his Facebook friends there is plenty of chatter about shopping.

But Ms Mulpuru is not convinced it will become a shopping hub any time soon.

"TV didn't transform retail and neither will Facebook. At the end of the day no-one buys something as the result of a link. The truth is that large brands just have not experienced any sizable gains in direct sales from Facebook," she said.

"In spite of hundreds of thousands of developers having been given the opportunity to create useful shopping applications or to integrate commerce into Facebook, there has yet to be a blockbuster success," she added.

It hasn't stopped a raft of companies betting that social and shopping is a powerful combination.
Three former Yahoo executives have set up a dedicated social network aimed entirely at shoppers.
Dishwasher reviews?
 
Dubbed ChoozOn , the start-up is built entirely around shopping and personalised deals. It allows users to manage their various deals and discount services and upcoming apps for the iPhone and Android handsets will highlight nearby deals.

Users can sign up for loyalty programmes and if they share their shopping preferences and the brands and retailers they like best, the shops will fashion specific discounts for them.

Meanwhile UK start-up Shopow (Shopper Power) offers a shopping search engine that aggregates thousands of retailers and products across all areas of consumer goods. Like other price comparison sites it allow users to compare goods by criteria such as price, retailer, service and delivery, but it also integrates various social functions.

It will display reviews and deals that have already been collected around a product, as well as drawing in more personal views.

"Shopow is somewhere where you can interact with friends but also rate your recent purchases," explained co-founder Kevin Flood.

He thinks people are far more likely offer to useful feedback via such a site than on Facebook.
"While some deals are appropriate to share on Facebook, you wouldn't share your experiences with a dishwasher on there," he said.

The ability of retailers to engage directly with consumers is a very powerful one and some have taken bold steps in this direction.

In February, US fashion designer Derek Lam harnessed the power of the web when he asked eBayers to vote on which of 16 dresses should form his summer collection. More than 120,000 people voted and the five winners went on sale in May.

Not wanting to be left out, the high street too is embracing social media.

In March, London's largest shopping centre Westfield unveiled a tweet mirror that allowed shoppers to try on an outfit and share the image in real time with friends and followers on Twitter.

The mirror, brainchild of Dutch firm Nedap Retail, is already installed in dozens of shops in Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland.

How many shoppers want to invite their online friends into the changing room is unclear but it offers a small glimpse of what offline retailers will have to do if it wants to persuade consumers away from their screens and back to the mall.