Social Commerce Trends 2011

This is a summary of some of the main trends from a new study “F-commerce: selling on Facebook” the new whitepaper by Dr Paul Marsden, a well-known social media strategist for Syzygy and editor of social commerce today.

Facebook Trends
56% of Facebook users have clicked through to a retailer’s website because of a Facebook post. This is a great percentage and retailers should utilise this tool.

40,485,186 The most liked Facebook shop? That would belong to Lady Gaga!! Not a surprise as she knows how to create word of mouth. There, she sells merchandise from CDs to Fame Monster USBs.

Social plug-ins let you see what your friends have liked, commented on or shared on sites across the web. 10k is the average number of websites that have integrated with Facebook every day since social Plug-Ins were launched.

The Facebook pop-up shop is a digital evolution of the pop-up retail model used by brands to showcase collections and interact with customers on a new level. 3rd Highest sales day for online fashion retailer Rachel Roy on the day it opened a temporary “pop up” Facebook fan-store. It’s not surprising that more and more people are seeing the benefits of shopping online. 67% of shoppers spend more online after receiving recommendations from their online community of friends.

F-commerce trends are divided into three main emerging micro trends; Social Networking, Mobile and Local trends;

1. Social NetworkingTrends
Social Networking Trends are constantly changing and evolving. Established brands are using social networks to reach their consumers, and small business owners are realising the power of creating a Facebook Page, or Twitter account to engage their customers.

Social networking is now the number one online activity. This is down to consumers spending 23% of their time online on social media sites.

42% of US online adults follow a retailer via Facebook, Twitter or blog. A further 28% of Facebook users have purchased something online via a link on Facebook. Purchasing online involves a lot of trust. 90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users.

2. Mobile Trends
The research shows that Smart phone user’s use their phones on a regular bases for social networking. For example 63% of Smart phone users use their handset to access a social network, at least once a week. While 79% of Smart phone users use their handsets to help with shopping and 35% of Smart phone owners have made a purchase on their handsets.

Mobile web access seems to be increasing on a daily basis. 34% of Facebook users access Facebook from their mobile phones at least once a day (32% view YouTube videos on a daily basis from a handset). Dr Paul Marsden reckons that by 2015, the mobile web access will overtake desktop access.

3. Local Trends
Social media isn’t just taking off globally this is also on a local level with 86% of customers using the web to find local business: 20% + of all Google searches have a local intent. This is also evident with mobile phone users. A staggering 95% of mobile users use their handsets to find local information and 88% of those users take action based on that information.

Local promotions and coupons on the web are also accessed by mobile phone users. 78% of mobile connected consumers have purchased from a local deals site. Nevertheless a lot of people like to view a product online before purchasing it in store. 45% of online European consumers have researched a product online and then bought it in a shop.

Social networking, mobile and local trends have grown quite considerably over the past year. According to Dr Paul Marsden this is set to continue over the next few years. We here at VendingbBox would love to hear from you and what you think will be the top trends for next year?!