Our regular readers may think that we’ve started sounding a bit like a broken record lately.
Whether it was in our coverage of Sortprice.com’s retailer application or the announcement that Facebook was changing how its users could support brand fan pages, Ecommerce Junkie has been arguing quite vociferously lately that the social networking giant is increasingly becoming a crucial tool in e-commerce. Now, we have even more evidence to back up that claim.
Consulting agency Morpace did a survey of about 1,000 online users, polling them on their habits when it comes to brands and product pages on Facebook. Based on the results, it would appear that consumers who become a fan of brand pages are actually more interested in sharing products they like with friends than they are in scoring rebates or special deals. It’s just another sign that social shopping, particularly on Facebook, is growing by the day.
The survey was part of Morpace’s monthly Omnibus Report for March and asked participants to list their primary reasons for becoming fans of brand pages on Facebook. Respondents were permitted to select as many reasons as they wished but 41 percent said they did so “to let my friends know what products I support,” while 37 percent chose “to receive coupons and discount offers” as their primary reason.
Additional reasons for becoming brand fans included “to stay current on available new products” (35%), “to learn more about the company” (31%) and “to meet with people who have interests similar to mine” (28%).
What else have we learned from the research?
–36 percent said they view Facebook as a good tool for researching products;
–Men (38 percent) are slightly more likely to find product information on Facebook than women (36 percent);
–68 percent of respondents indicated that a positive recommendation on a product from one of their Facebook friends would influence their decision on whether to buy a product or not;
–Restaurants/grocery stores (38 percent) are the most popularly-discussed retail outlets on Facebook, with technology (26 percent), sporting goods (15 percent) and childrens’ toys/games (12 percent) also high in popularity.
“The results show us that Facebook is a tool for retailers to directly communicate with their target marketer,” Morpace retail vice president Kristen Dunyes said in a statement. “Retailers can offer consumers product information and exclusive coupons and discounts to create viral buzz among Facebook consumers.”
Sounds a lot like what we’ve been telling you recently, doesn’t it? Leave us your thoughts and comments below!
wonder what the bottom line really is though ,seems like it might be a valid responce but yet could have a few flaws
We are currently doing ads on facebook, and have a fan page. The reporting system in the back of facebook is not really set up well, I want to see transactions, I don’t need to see traffic and number of clicks.
Also if facebook could create some sort of shopping network where a consumer could buy on facebook than it would even be a better tool for all.
Armen,
Take a look at Hallmark’s shopping page in Facebook. Full ecommerce functionality within the Facebook fan page.
It’s developed by Alvenda, Inc. (www.alvenda.con)
Zach:
It’s hard to quantify the sales impact these kinds of tools have because retailers are hesitant to go into those kinds of details. Our rationale in calling Facebook and social networking a “crucial” element in e-commerce is a matter of gaining access to hundreds of millions of potential shoppers who use those sites on a daily basis and the tools and applications hitting the market that allow one to shop there. Check out these two articles though for a little more in-depth analysis:
Internet Retailer: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=34288
INC.com: http://www.inc.com/internet/articles/201004/facebook.html#
We appreciate your feedback!
Using Facebook to drive ecommerce isn’t just about building a presence on Facebook. Another strategy is to socialize your own store site by building a robust 2-way connection to Facebook. This can be powerful in a couple ways. 1. Onsite social merchandising uses the social network of shoppers to show them purchases by friends. That helps with conversion rates, loyalty, and cross-sell. 2. Onsite social product sharing encourages shoppers to tell their SN friends about their purchases, which drives traffic and new customer acquisition.
I’d be interested in knowing how much of a difference it makes to the bottom line for these businesses that allow fans to shop on Facebook before I would call it a “crucial tool in e-commerce”. None of the respondents you mention say anything about using Facebook as a way to shop or buy something.
Great ideas ,have been trying there so have mixed opions about it but seems to help some anyhow
Hey Rod, we appreciate your feedback, We’re not sure what you’re basing your analysis on but the thousand or so merchants using it on Facebook would likely disagree with you, including Skechers (http://www.facebook.com/SKECHERS), PC Mall (http://www.facebook.com/PCMall), Tiger Direct (http://apps.facebook.com/tigerdirectstore/), and PETCO (http://www.facebook.com/Petco). Thanks for commenting!
Sorry but this is a really bad app – and I do not see any brands using it