Another one of the buzzwords that gets thrown around quite a bit is “social commerce.” Like most of these buzzwords, the practice itself isn’t necessarily new. People have been using socializing to sell things since they first started trading. But new tools have allowed companies to extend socializing to bring much more value to their customers (and their bottom line). Let’s take a look at what social commerce means with today’s tools and marketplace.
So, what exactly is social commerce?
According to Wikipedia:
Social commerce[1] is a subset of electronic commerce that involves using social media, online media that supports social interaction and user contributions, to assist in the online buying and selling of products and services.
Social commerce (in modern terms) really started when sites like Amazon and Yahoo added user reviews and other tools that allowed customers to communicate with each other to shopping sites.
Who’s Using Social Commerce?
Most of the big e-commerce sites are using some sort of social commerce, and even many smaller sites with at least user reviews and comments. But some sites, like Threadless, even use social commerce to come up with the products they are going to sell. The Altimeter group presented a webinar recently with some good examples:
How can you use social commerce?
In some ways you’re probably already using social commerce if you’re using social media tools to connect with your customers. If you provide customer support or get feedback or even just answer questions, you’re getting information about what customers want from your company. Figuring out how to make the process of including customers in your product processes can make social commerce even more effective for your company.
Do you use social commerce with your company? Or have you used social commerce in a buying process? Please share your experiences…
(photo by malias, on Flickr)