‘Tis the Season: Social Shopping
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Given that the next 48 hours marks the final days of shopping sanity for while, it seems like a good opportunity to talk quickly about social shopping.
A recent study by Deloitte showed that 17% of consumers would use social media during their holiday shopping. Just over one-half of that group was ages 18 to 29. The graph to the right shows the breakdown from there.
Maybe more significantly, Deloitte showed that:
- More than one in five (22 percent) consumers anticipate they will shop primarily online this year and
- 44 percent of shoppers expecting to use a coupon they obtained online.
- 39 percent) indicating they often read consumer-generated reviews of stores or products online, and
- 25 percent) saying they will likely purchase a product this holiday season based on an online recommendation.
Similarly, E-marketer reported on a study that showed that while relatively few (7%) online shoppers who plan to both research and buy holiday gifts online this year will look for ideas on sites such as Facebook, nearly one-half (45%) will use social networks to research items, compare prices and look for offers.
Mashable categorized social shopping into a few buckets- the most important of which, especially given the stats above are: instantaneous product reviews, real time deals, and group gifting. For products and brands – especially during the mayhem of holiday season –it is more important than ever to rise above the clutter and create incentives for shopping and recommending.
Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide quick and easy ways to promote customized deals and amplify those positive real-time product reviews. While community-based shopping sites tend to fall into two categories. Group gift sites, like eDivvy and others make it easier for cash-strapped consumers to make bigger ticket gifts, and curated gift sites, like StyleHive, and even Best Buy’s community forums that allow for highly personalized, recommendation-based gift ideas.
And with that – let the Black Friday games begin!
