Internet users follow retailers for more than just deals and discounts
Social commerce may be on the minds of retailers everywhere, but buying through Facebook is still far from mainstream. But it is hard to say whether shoppers are being restricted by the lack of “f-commerce” opportunities on Facebook, or whether retailers are hesitant to experiment before seeing a strong level of interest.
F-Commerce adoption remains mixed and inconclusive:
- Software provider Ability Commerce found that 79% of the Internet Retail Top 500 retailers have Facebook pages, yet only 12% offer apps or widgets that enable ecommerce transactions on the social network.
- Meanwhile, according to a joint study by Shop.org, comScore and Social Shopping Labs, 53% of Facebook users have reached a retailer’s website from its Facebook page, and 35% of online shoppers said they would be likely to make a purchase through Facebook.
- Facebook has become the social media venue of choice among online buyers.
- Compete discovered that the number of online buyers using retailers’ Facebook pages increased 3 percentage points over the previous year, bumping blogs, forums and review sites to second place.
- A third of respondents “like” six or more retailers or consumer products companies on Facebook.
The prospect of finding out about sales and promotions on Facebook is a big lure.
- 56% of those surveyed by Compete visited retailers’ Facebook pages for this purpose.
- 58% in the Shop.org study, which included Twitter and a company’s blog in the figure, cited deals as a primary motivation. Learning more about a retailer and keeping up to date on products were also important.
- 20% of online buyers found Facebook pages “influential” or “extremely influential,” regardless of the channel where the transaction is completed. The numbers show promise for a less established retail offering.
A PowerReviews and e-tailing group survey discovered that more familiar online tools, such as customer reviews, Q&As and forums, beat Facebook for their effect on buying behavior, yet the popular site still fared better than mobile or Twitter.
Taken with Compete’s findings, this implies that Facebook is being used by online shoppers more than ever and is continuing to grow in popularity, but has yet to surpass more ubiquitous online community tools in direct influence on purchasing.
Retailers and consumer products companies could give the small but eager group currently connecting with them on Facebook what they are looking for: access to sales. Even if these online shoppers are not yet able to make purchases directly through Facebook, exclusive offers can engender goodwill, loyalty, sharing and increase the likelihood of taking the “f-commerce” leap when it is offered.
COMMENTARY: This pretty much confirms what I said in my blog post of July 4, 2011 that evidence by several social media experts is strongly against an explosion in the adoption F-commerce. The idea that just because you have 750 million users (per Facebook), you present the perfect venue for ecommerce, is ridiculous to say the least. Mainstream adoption is years away, and Facebook needs to provide a compelling reason for consumers to use Facebook as their preferred choice for making online purchases.
Courtesy of an article dated July 8, 2011 appearing in eMarketer
I have heard lot about f-commerce, we can add our shop in f-commerce or create our own shop in it, But due to facebook latest changes many of se' experts are not following fb.
Posted by: Instant Ecommerce Website | 11/21/2011 at 08:43 PM
There is no question about it, F-commerce is here to stay! it's growing rapidly each day, with more and more brands taking advantage of Facebook.
We see our client success increased by 20%
Posted by: Mia Perry | 07/14/2011 at 06:18 AM