Take the best of social web and mix it with ecommerce you get social commerce, a new(ish) trend that is changing the face of online brands and retail. Over the last year, this e-mashup has been on the rise and presents online stores a new way to engage customers and increase sales.

Social commerce isn’t just a new buzzword or merely spamming your fans on Facebook, it’s a new way to do business online and engage customers. This interactive form of ecommerce came about as a result of brands communicating with consumers via social media and wanting to use that platform to leverage sales and bolster ROI. When done right, social commerce can strengthen existing consumer loyalty, whose influence can be used gain new customers. #winning (please excuse the blatant Charlie Sheen reference)

According to Wikipedia, social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves using social media, online media that supports social interaction and user contributions, to assist in the online buying and selling of products and services.

In a nutshell, social commerce provides the functionality of the social web in and around an online purchase. With the technology built into a purchase or ecommerce site, a consumer can provide feedback on a product or experience as well as recommend to their network through a variety of interactive methods. Several big brands like Macy’s, Delta Airlines, Lady Gaga (just to name a few) have jumped on board the social commerce train and there are many more to come.

Hot trends for social commerce:

Social Referral: With social referral technology built into your ecommerce platform, consumers are rewarded with a discount for sharing feedback about their purchase with their network via social media. New consumers, introduced by their friend (your existing customer) are also offered a discount as an incentive to shop.

Curebit, creators social referral solutions explain this concept best.

Group-Buys: Sites like Groupon and Living Social have dominated the group-buying social commerce corner. If you are not already familiar, group-buying allows consumers to purchase goods or services at a discounted rate if a certain number of people purchase the deal. The model encourages the sharing of information about a product or company across the social web in order to secure the deal.

F-commerce: No,  that’s not an expletive. We’re talking ecommerce powered by Facebook. With Facebook acquiring more and more users as we speak, brands continue to look for ways to engage there. Now, with a little web development savvy behind your brand, sales on Facebook is possible. Check out Delta’s Ticket Counter on Facebook. Chat with your friends and then buy a ticket to see them.

Over the next few weeks, HATHWAY will dive deeper into the subject of social commerce. Please refer back to our blog for more information on the subject. As always, if you have any questions or want to take your e-business to the next level, give us a call.