2 March 2011 - 10:25F-Commerce You! | #SocialEdition

 
Over the past year, we’ve seen more and more brands going beyond Facebook fan pages to drive engagement with consumers – and it makes sense. The growing population of 600 million Facebook users provides opportunities for companies to explore.

Your Facebook fan is looking beyond expressing their brand preferences through just ‘likes’ and comments. According to the Cone 2010 Consumer New Media Study, when Facebook users were asked what type of interaction they’re looking for when engaging with brands, 77% of respondents said they were looking for deals and promotions.

Thus, the appearance of f-commerce, or Facebook commerce. It’s a socially integrated shopping platform that is shifting business models and opening new doors for online retailers. With this movement, there is potential for the biggest social network to grow into the biggest social mall. If companies play the game right, they will score big.

So we’re briefing you on where f-commerce is today, the changing landscape of e-commerce and what’s next in the online social shopping space.
 

 
1/ IS FACEBOOK BECOMING AN ONLINE MALL?
Current e-commerce Facebook tabs and fan pages show that there is a lot of room for improvement.

Slow and cumbersome interfaces limit the shopping experience, and users are often redirected from Facebook to satellite e-commerce sites.

However, f-commerce platforms are quickly improving the online shopping process. Page designs are becoming more fluid and better integrated, making the shopping experience more convenient and better equipped for social utility. Companies like Payvment and Big Commerce are already offering packages to create your own f-commerce store at low cost.

JCPenny, Petco, Pampers and Delta are good examples of companies implementing f-commerce in their online retail strategy. ASOS, Europe’s first integrated Facebook store, is one to note as well. The clothing brand has extended the f-commerce experience into a sophisticated interface where one can view, like, comment, share and purchase items along with seeing which items their friends have liked within the f-commerce platform.

Read about common issues for selling on Facebook
 
2/ WILL F-COMMERCE REPLACE E-COMMERCE?
F-Commerce is one of the fastest growing applications of social commerce, and it may just become bigger than your webstore. Facebook controls more than half of the US traffic to social media sites with active users who spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site, making it convenient for consumers since they’re already there.

Why not launch your storefront in Facebook? One great is example is P&G who opened its Pampers f-store in February 2010, and within the hour, they sold 1,000 Cruiser diaper packs at a dash sale of $9.99 each.

Forrester recently released the US online retail forecast for the next five years. Retail sales are expected to reach $278.9 billion in 2015.  With new e-commerce models popping up such as flash sales and daily deals (Gilt Groupe and Groupon as examples), how do you keep your online growth increasing? Just remember that first and foremost, Facebook is a social networking site, not a shopping site. F-commerce may not be overtaking e-commerce just yet, but the partnership can result in higher online sales opportunity with little or no extra cost.

Read more about f-commerce first success stories
 
3/ WHAT’S NEXT?
In our crystal ball, we see f-commerce intensify with the probable arrival of social group-buying on Facebook, as the company is currently testing a new feature “Buy with friends” for social games and virtual goods. Think about it: let your customer share a purchase on his/her newsfeed and give his/her friends the opportunity to buy and get a discount directly in their newsfeed. The next trend might be f-groupon!

But Facebook is not the only social platform where e-commerce could extend its roots. Second to Facebook views, YouTube users still spend 5 hours and 50 minutes every month. Why not take advantage of it? Fashion retail chain French Connection understood the opportunity, and launched its first “YouTique” in September 2010. It could be a good idea for your business especially when you know that videos might help increase your conversion rate (i.e. Zappos). What will your social e-commerce platform be?

Read more about social group-buying on Facebook.
 
If you prefer to get the Social Edition via e-mail, feel free to subscribe on the sidebar on the top right!