Social commerce is the merger of social media and ecommerce.
It aligns human behaviors with buying behaviors because:
- 90% of all purchase decisions begin online
- 75% of consumers shop online before they buy offline
- 85% are looking for an independent review
- 78% of people trust the recommendations of other people
- They have an average of 130 friends on social networks
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14% of people trust advertisingOnly 18% of TV advertising campaign ever achieve a positive return on investment
1. INTEREST IN SOCIAL MEDIA CONTINUES TO DOUBLE EACH YEAR: The number of people who search “social media,” either those exact words or those words in a phrase, continues to climb.
2.ALMOST 1/2 OF EACH HOUR WE NOW SPEND ON THE INTERNET IS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS. Doesn’t it make sense we’d rather buy there than log-off and then log back on?
3. WHEN WE BUY AT RETAIL, 30%+OF US BUY FROM RETAILERS’ SOCIAL NETWORKS; 50%+ POST COMMENTS AND THE SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY OF US CLICK THROUGH TO THEIR WEBSITES. Wouldn’t you want your business to benefit from these incremental sales?
4. #1 REASON PEOPLE “LIKE” A BRAND ON FACEBOOK IS TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT AND PROMOTIONS. #2 is to show their support for the brand. Just like any relationship, this say if you show me some love, I’ll “like” you back.
5. OVER 40% OF THE TIME WE’RE ON TWITTER, WE”RE LEARNING ABOUT PRODUCTS AND SHARING OPINIONS ABOUT THEM; 20% OF THE TIME, WE’RE ACTUALLY BUYING THEM. We’re doing as much researching and purchasing as we are Tweeting.
6. 41% OF PEOPLE WHO USE LINKEDIN SAY THEY’VE GENERATED BUSINESS FROM IT. That’s in addition to those who use it to look for jobs and for recruitment.
7. SOCIAL COMMERCE IS PREDICTED TO GROW ABOUT 50% A YEAR FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT THREE YEAR. Sales will total $30 billion ($14 billion in the U.S.) – Source: Booz & Company
8. BY ABOUT THAT TIME, MORE PEOPLE WILL ACCESS THE INTERNET FROM MOBILE DEVICES THAN DESKTOPS. There are many reasons to expect mobile will increase the time we spent on social networks and make shopping easier and more fun.
9. SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE FASTEST GROWING CATEGORY ON MOBILE. At this rate in a few years, it’s also likely to be the biggest.
10. 60% OF US USE MOBILE TO SEARCH AND FIND DEALS AND RECEIVE THE BEST PRICE. Many also thought mobile made shopping easier and fun.
11. MOBILE MAKES SHOPPING MORE FUN BUT MOBILE ADS DON’T. Does that mean there will be less for advertising and more for social commerce?
12. THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SAYS SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE BUY. For decades, we would methodically “consider” and “evaluate” a purchase and then “buy.” Now, after we buy, we want to tell, “advocate” and “bond” with others who bought the same thing. We “enjoy” doing it. And it’s because social media and social commerce give us the channel to connect this human behavior with our buying behavior.
Do you think your boss will take an interest Social Commerce from these charts?
