When people say social media, we immediately think about Facebook. Facebook is as social as it gets online. But lately, the world’s most popular social media website is fast becoming a popular e-commerce website. When social media meets e-commerce, what do you get? Experts call it social e-commerce.
According to an article by Paul Chaney on the website practicalecommerce.com, Facebook is not just leading the social media race, it is topping the social e-commerce list as well. Based on a webinar about using Facebook to grow sales, Chaney maps out four key points on why Facebook is the perfect platform for not just making new friends, but for making money as well.
1. The sheer volume of people who sign up and log in to Facebook is more than enough reason to bring your business in. According to the article, “Facebook brings in more than $630 million in revenue from advertising… They are 41 percent more likely to recommend products and 28 percent more likely to continue using them, according to Forbes magazine…” These figures are the main reason why e-commerce merchants should consider hopping onto the Facebook wagon.
2. There are three ways by which social e-commerce happens on Facebook: promote brand loyalty, restructure the whole buying experience and lead potential customers into the actual e-commerce website. Within Facebook, there are many shopping applications which have “glorified photo galleries.” However, Chaney cites a disadvantage for this trend because users tend to want to complete the entire e-commerce experience within the website and not have to log on to another to actually purchase a desired item.
3. The keyword is still social. Facebook, in its purest form, is a social environment. Therefore, e-commerce merchants should be careful to not turn off potential customers with over-the-top, hard sell sales messages. Shopping should not be forced upon users, it should be “social, interactive, and contextual to the experience people are having.” A good rule of thumb is to educate, entertain and inform users.
4. Chaney enumerates more notes about social shopping. First, he cites the importance of a social product catalog which means e-commerce merchants should ensure that the items sold in that platform are relevant to the shopper. He also mentions social merchandising which refers to “tastefully combining old-fashioned merchandising with social technology” and finally, providing a secure order processing system which protects the user’s privacy and personal information.
Taking these into consideration and following good social e-commerce manners will certainly boost a business’ revenue. Effective e-commerce takes time to master but once you’ve learned the tricks of the trade, you can take it to any platform and succeed.