Retailers should beware before positioning their Social Media presence as a “conversation” with customers. Recent research indicates that Social Media’s alleged value to retailers of promoting better relationships, customer service and sales is actually quite difficult to achieve.
While US online retailers have been rushing into establishing their Social Media presence (86% now have a Facebook page), what value are they getting in return? Additionally, how many consumers actually care about that presence?
Social Networks are not popularly used as a resource for shoppers online. According to a recent survey (source: Compete.com), a majority of consumers do not visit retailer pages on Facebook or Twitter. When consumers do follow or ‘friend’ brands or companies, it is to mostly to stay informed of exclusive deals or offers (source: Razorfish).
Let’s discuss some key pieces that must be carefully considered by eRetailers:
Customer expectations: It seems most customers simply want to be better aware of discounts and deals. That means most retailers’ Social Media presence should be nothing more than a glorified RSS feed, much like the Facebook updates of Amazon.com. Clear expectation should be set upfront.
Customer service: Social Media can be used as customer service as few companies have done, but for the majority it is very likely their Facebook/Twitter accounts are administered by one person or a small team. Can they begin handling questions or comments from thousands of followers? Can they properly guide discussion so it is not full of spam and irrelevant conversation? The electronics retailer BestBuy has a huge ‘friend’ base on Facebook, over 1 million, yet the conversation is consistently a series of disappointed customers.
Sales increases: The promise of reaching new customers has not yet been fulfilled. The Dell example of prompting potential purchasers with offers is well known, but if more retailers attempt the same route, can backlash follow? That would be logical considering a greater awareness of online privacy. So far it seems retailers have simply reached their existing customers only.
This research implies that the promise of Social Media for eRetailers should be carefully balanced by logistics and understanding of what customers actually want, otherwise mutual disappointment is sure to follow.
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That compete.com survey is interesting, thanks for the heads up , interesting article :)
That compete.com survey is interesting, thanks for the heads up , interesting article :)
That compete.com survey is interesting, thanks for the heads up , interesting article :)
I don't seem to agree with this article at all. Instead, I think social media is beginning to have a strong influence on purchases by online shoppers. I think many retailers can not ignore this important marketing channel. Consumers prefer social media because of the recommendation they get from other shoppers as well expert advise in these sites.
Richard K
http://www.onewayshopping.com
Not sure who wrote this article because it flies in the face of all the evidence and information currently available, which basically states that e-commerce outlets are smartly expanding to social networking en masse because THAT'S WHERE THE CUSTOMERS ARE!!! Facebook has over 250 million users…who in their right mind would ignore that and choose a lame RSS feed instead???
Sortprice.com has apps on FB for both shoppers and merchants. Its merchant store application is being used by hundreds of retailers to tap into Facebook with great success. In the future, your writers might want to do a little research about what's actually happening before they write an article such as this!
Agree with you guys somewhat.
Am seeing a lot of users via Twitter in particular, but I do think the market on Facebook is a lot more difficult to tap into. There seems to be way too much Advertising cluster which neglects how smart the Facebook user can be
Irene
http://www.ubiqueapps.com/ushop
if you want to know the other side of the story, you have to read this book http://bit.ly/aKM5NF. social media is everywhere and eCommerce needs it.
Right now yes, most online retailers have some sort of social presence and are not getting a return from the effort of social media. I don’t think this is a sign of social media’s lack of relevance in online shopping it just that most online retailers have not figured out how to engage those users and convert them to shoppers. This will change as more retailers prefect their social strategies, as well as more online shoppers looking for guidance from friends, instead of just online product descriptions and reviews, when deciding which products to buy. Make no mistake the social internet world and the ecommerce world will continue to become more integrated and thus become increasingly important for retailers to spend time and money on their social marketing. http://openpricecomparison.com