DOCSLIB.ORG

Turning “Like” to “Buy” Social Media Emerges As a Commerce Channel Contact Information

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Turning “Like” to “Buy” Social Media Emerges As a Commerce Channel Contact Information Perspective Matt Anderson Joe Sims Jerell Price Jennifer Brusa Turning “Like” to “Buy” Social Media Emerges as a Commerce Channel Contact Information Berlin Düsseldorf New York Dr. Florian Gröne Roman Friedrich Fabian Seelbach Senior Associate Partner Senior Associate +49-30-88705-844 +49-211-3890-165 +1-212-551-6073 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Chicago Frankfurt San Francisco Jennifer Brusa Olaf Acker Jerell Price Associate Partner Principal +1-312-578-4550 +49-69-97167-453 +1-415-263-3764 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Dallas Hong Kong São Paulo Joe Sims Edward Tse Fernando Fernandes Partner Senior Partner Partner +1-214-712-6636 +852-3650-6100 +55-11-5501-6222 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Dubai Houston Vienna Karim Sabbagh Matt Anderson Klaus Hölbling Partner Partner Partner +971-4-390-0260 +1-713-650-4142 +43-1-518-22-907 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Booz & Company EXECUTIVE As consumers around the globe spend more time on social SUMMARY media of all kinds, it is inevitable that some of their posts and comments relate to what they are going to do at the mall and what products they like. Many consumer-oriented companies have already responded to this shift by setting up Facebook fan pages or Twitter feeds. These can be great ways of engag- ing with and influencing customers, especially since the individuals on a social networking site are usually connected to other individuals whom they trust and respect. So, in the best case, a company that has something appealing to sell can, through an initiative involving social media, provide an impe- tus far superior to traditional advertising—recommendations from the most influential people of all, the prospective buyer’s friends and family. But company influence through social from the unique characteristics of groups and traditional marketing social media, including the oppor- models is stopping well short of the tunity to get quick feedback from emerging opportunity. For many multiple friends and family members. customer segments, shopping in the physical world has always been The market for social commerce has social: I can go to the store with been embryonic to date, but that will you and put an item in your shop- change over the next five years as ping basket, saying “This is perfect companies race to establish stores, for you.” Now, some companies are pushing up social commerce revenues using social media in a similar way: as sixfold, to US$30 billion globally. a place where they can transact busi- As this growth surge happens, social ness with their customers and where commerce will take its place alongside customers can shop with each other. stores, telesales, and the more tradi- E-commerce is coming of age. These tional Web to emerge as a significant trendsetting companies are focused sales channel in its own right. on products and services that benefit Booz & Company 1 Social media has revolutionized companies, it is also handing them THE IMPACT OF the way people communicate and an opportunity. Retail, consumer SOCIAL MEDIA maintain relationships. Globally, electronics, and media companies Internet users now spend more than are among the many types of ON CONSUMER four and a half hours per week on organizations that have followed BEHAV IOR social networking sites, more time consumers into the social arena, than they spend on e-mail.1 There is creating Facebook fan pages, sending a public quality to how communica- microblog messages, and building tion happens on social networks— communities. A 2010 presentation people are, to use the Facebook by Shop.org said that 68 percent analogy, sharing their thoughts on of North American business-to- “a wall” for others to see. As more consumer (B2C) companies have and more of what people think and acquired at least some customers do ends up getting communicated on through Facebook.3 these new-age bulletin boards, it is inevitable that social networks will Lead generation—the ubiquitous start to affect what consumers buy “likes” of Facebook—will not be the and how they shop. In a way that has most important activity for long, never before been true, consumers however. The next phase will go are determining which products and beyond mere communication and services succeed and are shaping the influencing. Consumers will transact messaging. Underlining this point, commerce inside social networks— Altimeter Group says there is now selecting products, adding their a fifth “P”—people—to add to the selections to shopping carts, and traditional four “Ps” of market- completing purchases through pay- ing (product, price, placement, and ment with credit cards and points. promotion).2 As they do so, the era of social com- merce will commence in earnest. If the new medium of social networks is creating challenges for Consumers will transact commerce— from selecting products to completing purchases through payment with credit cards and points—inside social networks. 2 Booz & Company EARLY directly into its Facebook fan page, The innovations in social commerce allowing consumers to make quick are happening globally. Hyves, the DEVELOPMENTS purchases without having to leave most popular social networking site IN SOCIAL Facebook. The company has also in the Netherlands, has developed a used Facebook as a component of payment system that allows users to COMMERCE its Mother’s Day campaign and transfer as much as €150 (US$201) has plans to integrate with other to other users to pay for goods Facebook features such as birthday available within the Hyves payment calendars and group gifting. It isn’t system. The Hyves site, which has hard to imagine a company like more than 10 million accounts, 1-800-Flowers taking advantage of has also created a consumer-to- Companies that are pursuing social other social networking features, consumer marketplace called Supply commerce regard it as a distinct such as a person’s likes and dislikes & Demand that is analogous to channel underpinned by a significant about colors, to help gift givers Craigslist, allowing members to post new aspect of consumer behavior. decide which bouquets to send. items for sale. This new channel represents the merger of e-commerce and social Facebook isn’t the only social How ready are consumers to buy media, as transactions are actually network on which commerce is products through social media? A performed within the platform rather happening. Many companies, for 2010 survey by Booz & Company than at the retailer’s e-commerce instance, have used Twitter to sell of consumers who spend at least one site. While social commerce is still their products. As of late 2009, Dell hour a month on social networking nascent, there are some notable Outlet had already sold $6.5 million sites and who have bought at least examples of companies that are in products through its Twitter feed;4 one product online in the last year innovating in this area. airlines such as AirTran Airways provides some insight. Twenty- have also used Twitter to sell seven percent of respondents said For instance, 1-800-Flowers, a floral discounted tickets. Since November they would be willing to purchase retailer that has ridden a history of 2010, users of Apple’s Ping physical goods through social channel innovation to a national recommender have been using tweets networking sites. Moreover, 10 presence with more than $700 (Twitter’s 140-character posts) percent said their buying through million in revenue, now has a fully to send song previews and iTunes social networking sites will be functioning Facebook store. It has purchase links to their followers.5 incremental to other buying they embedded its e-commerce platform do—that is, they will end up buying Booz & Company 3 more physical goods overall. (The as companies find ways to embed (see Exhibit 1). This estimate is 73 percent who said they would their e-commerce engines within only for hard goods—electronics, not purchase goods through social social media, the market for social apparel, movie tickets, and the like. networking sites largely cited commerce will skyrocket, helped Services are equally promising for concerns related to security and in part by new models for buying social commerce—the online storage privacy, two areas that many big and by the availability of products company seeking new customers, social networking sites are already developed specifically for social the wireless company offering working to improve.) networking sites. an upgrade, the cable television company providing downloads or These emerging attitudes make it By 2015, the dollar volume of streamed versions of old episodes. unlikely that social commerce—a goods sold through social media Companies like these will have cousin, after all, of the more should rise sixfold, to $30 billion multibillion-dollar opportunities too. familiar e-commerce—will face from $5 billion this year, according hurdles related to its newness. And to Booz & Company estimates Exhibit 1 Booz & Company Estimate of Social Commerce Market Size (2010-2015; in US$ Billions) $30 +56% $14 U.S. $20 $9 $14 $9 $5 $16 Rest of $3 $5 $12 the World $1 $8 $6 $4 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Note: Numbers might not add up because of rounding. Source: Forrester Research; GP Bullhound; Euromonitor; Booz & Company analysis 4 Booz & Company WHERE SOCIAL Companies see opportunities to use doing anything at all in this area (see social commerce at every moment Exhibit 2). Many companies in China COMMERCE CAN along the path to purchase—aware- are in some way using or planning HAVE AN IMPACT ness, consideration, conversion, and to use Tencent QQ (Facebook is still loyalty and service—and also to mea- prohibited by government authori- sure the success of their efforts.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Comércio Eletrônico
    Comércio Eletrônico Aula 1 - Overview of Electronic Commerce Learning Objectives 1. Define electronic commerce (EC) and describe its various categories. 2. Describe and discuss the content and framework of EC. 3. Describe the major types of EC transactions. 4. Describe the drivers of EC. 5. Discuss the benefits of EC to individuals, organizations, and society. 6. Discuss social computing. 7. Describe social commerce and social software. 8. Understand the elements of the digital world. 9. Describe some EC business models. 10. List and describe the major limitations of EC. Case: Starbucks Electronic Commerce (EC) EC refers to using the Internet and other networks (e.g., intranets) to purchase, sell, transport, or trade data, goods, or services. e-Business • Narrow definition of EC: buying and selling transactions between business partners. • e-Business refers to a broader definition of EC: – buying and selling of goods and services – Servicing customers – collaborating with business partners, – delivering e-learning, – conducting electronic transactions within organizations. – Among others e-Business Note: some view e-business only as comprising those activities that do not involve buying or selling over the Internet, i.e., a complement of the narrowly defined EC. Major EC Concepts: Non-EC vs. Pure EC vs. Partial EC • EC three major activities: – ordering and payments, – order fulfilment, and – delivery to customers. • pure EC: all activities are digital, • non-EC: none are digital, • otherwise, we have partial EC. Major EC Concepts: Pure
    [Show full text]
  • Social Commerce
    SOCIAL COMMERCE AND YOUR E-COMMERCE STRATEGY T HE DIGITAL GRAND BAZAAR Imagine yourself standing in the middle of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar—the world’s oldest and largest covered market. There are 61 covered streets. Over 3,000 shops. The bazaar attracts nearly half a million shoppers on a daily basis. Imagine the smell of spices and leather goods. Imagine the vibrant colors of the fabrics and glittering jewelry, picture the ornateness of handmade ceramics. All around you, people are looking at the wares, haggling with the vendors, talking about this shop or that one. The noise is steady and unrelenting and the sheer amount of humanity is exhilarating/overwhelming. The Grand Bazaar today is not much different than it was in the 16th century. Shops still sell similar items. Goods are still bargained for—no one pays what a seller is asking (you’re expected to haggle and deal with the vendor face-to-face). It’s been described as one of the best ways to “recapture the romantic atmosphere of old Istanbul.”1 And it represents the archetypical driver of commerce: social interaction; word of mouth. Commerce has always been a social event. Word of mouth, for example, was one of the first and most powerful forms of advertising. And it still remains so today. According to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, word of mouth “is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions.”2 In the digital era, e-commerce has become the Grand Bazaar for the world. Social media is the modern word of mouth where instead of sharing opinions with just a small and close-knit group, people connect and share across the globe.
    [Show full text]
  • Globalwebindex's Flagship Report on the Latest Trends in Social Media
    Social GlobalWebIndex’s flagship report on the latest trends in social media FLAGSHIP REPORT 2020 globalwebindex.com What's inside? 03 Introduction 04 Key insights 05 Social media engagement 11 The social media landscape 13 Social media behaviors 15 Social entertainment 21 Notes on methodology 23 More from GlobalWebIndex SOCIAL Introduction METHODOLOGY GlobalWebIndex Social Media flagship report provides All figures in this report are drawn from GlobalWebIndex’s version of this survey via mobile, hence the sample sizes the most important insights on the world of social media, online research among internet users aged 16-64. We only presented in the charts throughout this report may differ as from the very latest figures for social media engagement interview respondents aged 16-64 and our figures are some will include all respondents and others will include only to the key trends within the social space and a representative of the online populations of each market, not its respondents who completed GlobalWebIndex’s Core survey via comprehensive view of which social platforms are most total population. Note that in many markets in Latin America, PC/laptop/tablet. popular. Among others, this report covers the following the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific region, low topics in detail: internet penetration rates can mean online populations are Throughout this report we refer to indexes. Indexes are used more young, urban, affluent and educated than the total to compare any given group against the average (1.00), which How much time per day are digital consumers population. unless otherwise stated refers to the global average.
    [Show full text]
  • Westminsterresearch the Role of Knowledge Share, Satisfaction
    WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/westminsterresearch The Role of Knowledge Share, Satisfaction, Social Commerce Usage Experience on Smart Mobile Device User’s Purchase Intentions: Evidence from South Korean Consumers Kwon, K. This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © Mr Kyung Kwon, 2018. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: ((http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] The Role of Knowledge Share, Satisfaction, Social Commerce Usage Experience on Smart Mobile Device User’s Purchase Intentions: Evidence from South Korean Consumers Kyung-Joon Kwon A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2018 Abstract This thesis analyses the factors that contribute to consumers’ intention to make online purchases via smart mobile devices. To examine consumers’ purchase intentions, frameworks described in the marketing and information system literatures were integrated, and a theoretical framework was then proposed. In total, 498 Korean consumers were recruited to
    [Show full text]
  • E-Commerce 2007
    COMMUNITY DRIVEN COMMERCE: DESIGN OF AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL SHOPPING Research Group for Industrial Software supported by IFKT ABSTRACT The fast evolution of the internet has tremendously increased the variety of modern communication possibilities for people, offering new sources for social contacts via communities and networks. Likewise, there exists a steadily increasing demand for social e-commerce, an emerging phenomenon also called social shopping. Especially applicable for B2C and C2C e-commerce, social shopping is currently characterized by offering platforms where consumers collaborate online, get advice from trusted individuals, find the right products of a repository and finally purchase them. This paper illustrates an integrated framework for social shopping as basis for a new prototype system. For the design of the framework, conventional community and shopping systems as well as existing best practice social commerce models were analyzed in detail. The presented results highlight core entities, functions and interactions of the social shopping concept, summarized in a concise diagram. KEYWORDS Social Shopping, Community Driven Commerce, Framework 1. INTRODUCTION Social shopping is a specific approach of B2C and C2C e-commerce, where consumers collaborate and shop in an environment similar to social networking platforms (e.g., MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, Orkut or Hi5). Using the synergistic experience of crowds, potential customers communicate and aggregate information about products, prices, and deals. Social shopping sites typically allow members to tag products they like, to upload personalized images, to write comments on goods as well as to create custom shopping lists to share them with friends. Future models of social commerce range from advertising and affiliate driven sites like ThisNext or Shoppero without direct sales activities to fully integrated social shopping sites like Threadless or Etsy where products are transferred from vendors to consumers (B2C) or directly between users (C2C).
    [Show full text]
  • Merchants of 'Social': Exploring the Use of Social Technologies to Drive Commerce
    MaRS Market Insights Merchants of ‘Social’: Exploring the use of social technologies to drive commerce MaRS is a member of Content Lead and Market Analyst: Neha Khera, MaRS Market Intelligence Disclaimer: The information provided in this report is presented in summary form, is general in nature, current only as of the date of publication and is provided for informational purposes only. Specific advice should be sought from a qualified legal or other appropriate professional. MaRS Discovery District, © April 2012 Table of Contents Social Commerce Market / 4 figure 1: US retail spending in 2011 ($US billions) / 4 figure 2: US retail spending forecast, 2010-2015 ($US billions) / 5 Social commerce ecosystem / 5 What is and is not working / 7 Shopping where you socialize: Transaction on Facebook / 7 Socializing where you shop / 7 Implications of social commerce / 9 Attraction of social commerce / 10 References / 11 Appendix A: Companies profiled / 12 ideacious / 12 Shopcaster / 14 Simply Good Technologies / 16 SocialGift / 18 uknowa / 20 Uniiverse / 22 i Social Commerce Market Shopping has always been a social activity, whether it’s shopping with friends for fun, asking colleagues to recommend a service provider or telling your family about a big sale. The only difference today is that these collaborative shopping experiences are being seamlessly shifted from the physical world into the digital world. This is the rise of what’s known as social commerce. Social commerce is the merger of what used to be two very distinct activities online: e-commerce, which has grown to be a $7 trillion industry worldwide,1 and social networking, which now engages close to 20% of the global population.2 Through social commerce, consumers can now socialize where they shop, or shop where they socialize.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of Social Media on E-Commerce Decision Making Process
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Valerio, Curzi; William, Lecoq; Noémier, Quéré Article The Impact of Social Media on E-Commerce Decision Making Process International Journal of Technology for Business (IJTB) Provided in Cooperation with: University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Commerce Suggested Citation: Valerio, Curzi; William, Lecoq; Noémier, Quéré (2019) : The Impact of Social Media on E-Commerce Decision Making Process, International Journal of Technology for Business (IJTB), ISSN 2644-5085, Springwish Publisher, Bratislava, Vol. 1, Iss. 1, pp. 1-9, http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2591569 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/194865 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence.
    [Show full text]
  • Survey of Social Commerce Research
    Survey of Social Commerce Research by Anuhya Vajapeyajula, Priya Radhakrishnan, Vasudeva Varma in The Third International Conference on Mining Intelligence and Knowledge Exploration International Institute of Information Technology, IIIT Hyderabad , India Report No: IIIT/TR/2015/-1 Centre for Search and Information Extraction Lab International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad - 500 032, INDIA December 2015 Survey of Social Commerce Research Anuhya Vajapeyajula?1 and Priya Radhakrishnan2 Vasudeva Varma2 1 MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA, 2 IIIT, Hyderabad, India. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract. Social commerce is a field that is growing rapidly with the rise of Web 2.0 technologies. This paper presents a review of existing research on this topic to ensure a comprehensive understanding of social commerce. First, we explore the evolution of social commerce from its marketing origins. Next, we examine various definitions of social com- merce and the motivations behind it. We also investigate its advantages and disadvantages for both businesses and customers. Then, we explore two major tools for important for social commerce: Sentiment Analysis, and Social Network Analysis. By delving into well-known research pa- pers in Information Retrieval and Complex Networks, we seek to present a survey of current research in multifarious aspects of social commerce to the scientific research community. 1 Introduction $14 billion dollars, or 5% of all online revenue, are expected to come from social commerce in 32015. Social commerce, a rapidly growing branch of commerce, originates from social media marketing and hence marketing. Marketing is an integral part of commerce that has evolved greatly through- out the years.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Commerce Activities – a Taxonomy Dilal Saundage Deakin University, [email protected]
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) ACIS 2011 Proceedings Australasian (ACIS) 2011 Social Commerce Activities – a taxonomy Dilal Saundage Deakin University, [email protected] Chia Yao Lee Deakin University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2011 Recommended Citation Saundage, Dilal and Lee, Chia Yao, "Social Commerce Activities – a taxonomy" (2011). ACIS 2011 Proceedings. 68. http://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2011/68 This material is brought to you by the Australasian (ACIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been accepted for inclusion in ACIS 2011 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact [email protected]. 22nd Australasian Conference on Information Systems A taxonomy of Social Commerce activities 29 th November to 2 nd December 2011, Sydney Saundage & Lee Social Commerce Activities – a taxonomy Dilal Saundage Chia Yao Lee School of Information Systems Deakin University Melbourne, Australia Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Abstract In recent years businesses large and small have jumped on the Social Commerce bandwagon, all in the hope of utilising social media services to facilitate various Social Commerce activities. Given the growing influence of social media on social, economic and political events globally, the rise in business interest in Social Commerce is not unexpected. This paper examines the Social Commerce activities of several Fortune 500 businesses. It analyses and categorises how businesses utilise social media to interact with customers, trading partners, employees and other important stakeholders.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Networking “Why and How?”
    Social Networking “Why and How?” BEBO WHITE SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC… MACMANIA’10 MAY, 2010 Caveats I’m an “out-lier” – nothing specifically here about Mac use This is not a tutorial on how to use a social networking application (e.g., Facebook) This is neither an endorsement or criticism of social networking but rather a few personal and research observations Interactive – I have give-aways! How Many Here Use Social Networking? Facebook Twitter Myspace LinkedIn Plaxo Flickr Other…. Do You Dread Getting the Messages? “Join my network on LinkedIn” “XXX has invited you to be a friend on Facebook” “YYY just joined Plaxo” “ZZZ wants to follow you on Twitter” Do you fear that you’ll be perceived as anti-social if you don’t respond? Is it too trendy or requires too much bandwidth? Do you fear all the horror stories that you have heard about social networking? Do you mistrust the social network providers? “There’s something happenin’ here, what it is ain’t exactly clear” --- Stephen Stills (with apologies from Bebo) “I Would Never Want To Join a Club That Would Have Me” I Won’t Try to Define “Online Social Networking” We all think that we know (or can guess) what it is or “know it when we see it” (by example or functionality) It’s not just about technology but includes psychology, sociology, etc. However, technology appears to be changing its constantly evolving definition We must be careful to separate “Online Social Networking” and “The Social Web” Ethical Fault Lines Identity – how do you present yourself online? Privacy – the world can see everything you write Ownership – plagiarism, reproducing creative works Credibility – legitimate sources of information Community – interacting with others --- Howard Gardner, Harvard University A Brief History (from my perspective) Social networking is a basic human activity that has been adopted by technological advancements throughout history – postal services, printing, telephone, radio, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • A to Z: Social Media Marketing
    0 Copyright © 2012 by Jordan Kasteler All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the author. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts of preparing this book, they make no representations of warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss or profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. 1 Author: Jordan Kasteler Jordan Kasteler is an Online Marketing Strategist for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a non-profit organization. He has a history of entrepreneurship co-founding and serving positions in such companies as BlueGlass Interactive, an Internet marketing agency and SteelCast, a tech incubator housing several other self-started companies. His work experience ranges from in-house SEO at Overstock.com to agency-level SEO. In addition to consulting, he’s experienced hosting BlueGlass Internet marketing events and co-owning one of the search engine industry’s leading publishing sites, Search Engine Journal.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Commerce Defined Social Commerce Defined Page 2
    November 2009 Social Commerce Defined Social Commerce Defined Page 2 An Introduction to Social Commerce Social Commerce is a new phenomenon that has taken the e-commerce world by storm. Unlike many technologies to emerge over the years, social commerce has had a rapid adoption. A few years ago, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn were not common terms in our vocabulary. Few could have predicted how pervasive the social technologies have become not only online, but also in our daily lives. Put simply, social commerce is the concept of word-of-mouth, applied to e-commerce. Social commerce has taken word-of-mouth where it never really existed before, the online shopping world. Customers now are looking for ways to leverage each other’s expertise, understand what they are purchasing, and make more informed and accurate purchase decisions. Retailers need to understand their customers and what they expect out of the shopping experience to develop a successful social commerce strategy. This whitepaper will focus on the definition of Social Commerce, the benefits of social commerce to retailers, the different components and how IBM has enabled Social Commerce in WebSphere® Commerce Version 7.0. The Basics of Social Commerce Social Commerce is the marriage of a retailers products and the interaction of shoppers with the content. It comes in many forms, although the most common and adopted is online ratings and reviews. As the use of the internet has evolved, shoppers have in- creased their expectations of the retail interaction experience. It is no longer enough to have standard product descriptions with static text and standard descriptions.
    [Show full text]