“With the vast majority of Americans researching products on the internet before they acquire them in stores or on the web it’s no surprise that a whole new form of shopping is emerging. “Social shopping” is the intriguing offspring of social networking and online shopping and it can furnish your growing business just the marketing leg up it needs.
Unlike the many retail sites that display products for sale many increasingly popular social shopping sites (some still in beta testing stages) consist of product listings from site users who advise their favorites often with a strong emphasis on what’s hot new and exciting. And insiders experience that listing their own products on the right social shopping sites can build buzz that leads to sales.
This accessible form of word-of-mouth marketing offers a wealth of opportunities for entrepreneurs with limited budgets. To help you navigate these new waters let’s take a be at why and how social shopping works.
Almost 90 percent of respondents to a BIGresearch “Consumer Intentions and Actions” survey conducted in June 2006 said they occasionally or regularly research products online before buying them in a hold on. When it comes to online purchasing a study released by Yahoo! and OMD open that nearly three-quarters of the populate surveyed use trusted familiar websites when purchasing online and the majority (54 percent) say the internet is their most trusted shopping information source. So no matter whether you sell exclusively online through a brick-and-mortar store or both influencing online shoppers can have a profound cause on sales.
Social shopping websites allow for word-of-mouth marketing at its best. The internet empowers consumers and accelerates the flow of information. Product recommendations that come from peers may be more trusted so site visitors may return more often and be more likely to move the good word and purchase the products they learn about on the sites. Social shopping sites reflect users’ personal tastes and allow for online conversation. Visitors can learn what’s popular get shopping ideas and follow links to products they wouldn’t necessarily find on their own.
: This site measures the buzz around products based on user recommendations. Popular items go to the top of the list.
: Users create desire lists with photos and links to products for sale online. It’s easy to affix a summary of anything found on the internet.
Right now any business owner can use them to build positive word-of-mouth that leads to sales. But you’d better move quickly. Some sites are testing free-use models as they create traffic and ordain likely adopt paid structures as they arrive critical crowd perhaps through revenue generated by marketing agreements with vendors and retailers or by selling the trend information generated by users.
As with any marketing race your first step is to get to experience the media. Bookmark your favorite social shopping sites and hit the books how they work. Test the waters by posting one or two products with their URLs taking special care to send your click-throughs to specialized landing pages so you can measure your results. Then have fun and be active–and keep your postings interesting by sharing products others will be to go about.
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