The past couple of years have seen ecommerce businesses grab an increasing share of the retail pie. A parallel development has been the penetration of social media into our daily existence. And these two are not unrelated developments. An astute ecommerce professional will easily identify an ecommerce opportunity in the emergence of social media -- behold the birth of social ecommerce.
Two Parallel Paradigms of Social Ecommerce
- Incorporating Ecommerce Elements Into Social Media
Today it is possible to set up an ecommerce store using Facebook as a platform. Some like to call that fcommerce. This is still in its infancy and the next couple of years will see many false starts. I would not be surprised to see doomsayers write this paradigm off. They will be wrong.
As social platforms become more robust in being able to deal with the needs of ecommerce, they will compete effectively with legacy ecommerce platforms. And the fact that we are now using the word "legacy" as an adjective to ecommerce platforms is itself indicative of the journey we have already traveled.
- Incorporating Social Media Elements Into Ecommerce
The merit of this paradigm is obvious. Popular social platforms have trained people to behave in a certain way. By incorporating some of those elements, your ecommerce website could be more engaging to your customers.
Methods of Incorporating Social Engagement on Your Ecommerce Website
- Allow customers to login with their social accounts
Facebook and Twitter allow this, so do several other social sites. Requiring customers to register a new account is a common reason for shopping cart abandonment.
Many people are logged into their social accounts all the time. Allowing login with social accounts is a great convenience to these people.
- Allow, in Fact Encourage, People to Cross Post on Your Site and on Their Social Accounts
If you have a blog on your ecommerce site, then include the ability for people to post their blog comments on their Facebook profile too. Likewise with their other popular social accounts.
And this is not restricted only to their blog comments. Make sharing options available for a host of other situations, e.g., whenever a customer adds a review or rating for a product, encourage and enable them to post that review or rating on their social account too.
Think about it, why do people volunteer to write a review or rate a product. It is because they want to be heard. And you are only encouraging this by facilitating cross sharing. The fact that their status updates link back to specific portions of the ecommerce website should excite the marketer in you.
- Create Exclusive Promotions to Encourage Customers to Talk About You
Some examples of how you could use this would be:- Announce a new product or category launch on a social site. Encourage readers to "share" the announcement, and reward anyone whose share gets the maximum following.
- Run a contest where users get to display themselves consuming the product that they purchased from your ecommerce website, e.g., they could post a picture of themselves wearing a t-shirt they purchased from your ecommerce website. Another example could be a video of them playing with a toy they purchased from you. (Note: contests are regulated in almost all territories. Make sure you comply with regulation).
- Announce a new product or category launch on a social site. Encourage readers to "share" the announcement, and reward anyone whose share gets the maximum following.
- Create Content Specifically for Sharing
Some images, videos, and articles capture the imagination of users who cannot help but share it on their social accounts. If you could elegantly incorporate your branding in that content, your brand will travel far and wide. Infographics are an interesting example of such branded content.
- Monitor Competitors
The social ecommerce race has spurred a lot of creativity. Every month I come across interesting social ecommerce initiatives. While you implement and monitor your own social ideas, make sure to keep an eye on your competitor's moves. Being a second-mover is usually better than being one that did not move at all.
