Success in Social Commerce - Essay Example

? Success in Social Commerce of the E-Commerce of the Concerned May 9, Success in Social Commerce Introduction Thereis no denying the fact that many people tend to think of social commerce as merely being a branded forefront spread across the Facebook canvas. However, even a cursory student of social commerce knows that success in social commerce means much more than that. Hence, it is not a wonder that many online businesses are simply oblivious of the fact as to how to exploit and channelize the overall potential of social commerce. It is a fact well known around the world that social networking has accrued a large scale acceptance and usage amongst the contemporary consumers. Yet, there is no dearth of businesses that have failed to exploit the full potential of the opportunities available at the social networking sites like Facebook and to be able to use them as viable channels to engage customers. However, on the other side there is no dearth of companies that prove beyond doubt that social commerce holds an immense potential for the companies that know how to milk the business potential inherent in the social networking sites. It is a fact that the businesses that know as to how to exploit the large volumes of freely available data at the social networking sites that is self maintained on a continual basis by the potential consumers and are able to personalize that data and the associated portals to enhance the overall consumer experience could accrue much in terms of business success (Shen, 2012, p. 198). The Future of Social Commerce Though, the skeptics tend to bemoan the fact that social commerce constitutes a mere fraction of the total retail business, yet if one goes by the ongoing trends, it would not be wrong to say that the social commerce is expanding at a pace that is much fast as compared to the offline retail (Griffiths & Howard, 2008, p. 70). Social commerce is bound to expand and could be expected to appropriate a major chunk of the retail business, considering the fact that the contemporary consumers are not only spending a greater time on the mobile devices and social networking sites, but the proactive and innovative companies are enhancing the opportunities whereby the consumers could make purchase on the social networking sites (Griffiths & Howard, 2008). The social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are making it much easier for the consumer to engage in one-stop-shop experience. Right from the job of purchasing and getting delivered the gifts for the loved ones to buying branded products from a brand’s Twitters hashtag post or its Facebook page, social commerce is extending such opportunities to the conventional consumers that are not only hassle free and easy to use, but are also accompanied by readily available customer reviews, pre purchase assistance and after sale services. Social commerce has the potential to fuel consumer sales by molding and channelizing their shared interest and propensities. It is not a wonder that irrespective of the fact that though the social commerce today is being dominated by the online businesses like Amazon, Macy’s, Target and Apple, the online shopping businesses like Beyond the Rack, HauteLook, and ShoeDazzle are increasing and enhancing their social commerce presence. These companies retain a very strong and engaging presence at Twitter and Facebook. No wonder engaging in social commerce is a potent and viable way not only to enhance a businesses’ online presence, but also to translate into viable online sales. Besides, social commerce could also be adapted and manipulated to accrue much word of mouth publicity. For instance there is no dearth of the consumers who are willing to post a review about a particular business, provide they are offered a lucrative and attractive deal. Social commerce is a double edged sword with innate possibilities and opportunities. By helping the consumers the businesses could help themselves grow and by enervating the consumers the businesses could cull much negative publicity. Social commerce not only enables the businesses to gain visibility, but also allows them to track their consumers’ online activities and to access the shopping data related to them (Massetti, 2008, p. 2). Hence, though the success in the arena of social commerce could work wonders for a business, it could not be gained sans a professional approach and dedication (Massetti, 2008). Requisites for Social Commerce Success across Channels As already said, social commerce success is more than affiliating to a branded forefront across a Facebook of Twitter canvass. It takes much more than that to be a viable social commerce success. It will be academically apt and interesting to underline a few key steps and strategies that assure social commerce success for a brand. Concise and Clear Social Network Integration Goals The social network integration of each and every brand tends to be different in the sense that the brands happen to differ in terms of the products and services they sell, the kind of clientele they target and the USPs they intend to focus on. Hence it is imperative for each and every brand to meditate and think that what role does their social media integration plays in one’s overall business strategy (Marketing, 2011, p. 18). Many a times the organizations and businesses happen to commit the mistake of thinking that their social commerce success could be estimated by counting the footfall on their brand page or by tracking the sales accumulated by them on Facebook. However, while doing so they totally forget about the influence that their brand tends to accumulate in the social commerce arena. The organizations need to clearly define and calibrate the goals and metrics that govern their brand influence in the social media (Marketing, 2011, p. 18). Just because a brand has built its brand page on a social network site does not mean that the customers will visit that page. The organizations need to build a social commerce strategy that continually gives the consumers a reason to visit them on social media and to actively engage with the services and products sold by them. It takes a range of ploys like time based offers and in-app experience to make the potential consumers keep on discussing a brand on the social media. Being Proactively Social It is imperative for the businesses to yield a core experience that is consistent on the social media portals to be a social commerce success. The organizations need to assure that their social commerce strategy is consistent with Facebook’s social by design principles and they are able to engage an ever growing number of consumers by pursuing tactics that make the social commerce experience they design more engaging and personal (Hensle & Deis, 2010, p. 88). The business need to take care of the fact that they place people at the core of the social media experiences they offer and the products and services they sell are woven around the personalities of the potential clientele they attract (Hensle & Deis, 2010). In social commerce it needs to be understood that even a few customers do have the capacity and the potential to activate many. Hence, the success accrues to only such businesses that make their social media interactions user friendly and simple by enabling the users to share experiences and comment on the products and services in a facile and lightweight manner (Hensle & Deis, 2010). Successful social commerce businesses make the entire sharing experience quiet fast and easy, bringing in features like Timeline, News Feed and postpurcahse sharing to facilitate the dissemination of the user experience on the social media . Capacity to put Social Media Generated Data to Work To garner a realistic approach in one’s social commerce activities and plans, the organizations does need to have the capacity to identify opportunity on the social media and the use they can put such opportunities to. This needs a very proactive, focused and dedicated approach towards things. It goes without saying that the social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter are a source of a plethora of data on the potential consumers and many a times some if not all of such data is available for free (Harden & Heyman, 2010) . However, a business could only garner sales from this data if it knows as how to put this data to use. On the one side the businesses vying for social commerce need to invest in such technologies that make it possible to interpret and put to use this data in real time, on the other side it is propitious to churn out consumer opportunities that enable the potential customers to make a purchase in the light of the suggestions facilitated by the interpretation of this data (Harden & Heyman, 2010, p. 113). For instance by resorting to a strategy that enables the customers to look at the products and services that their loved ones have browsed or purchased at their website, and by unraveling the personalized suggestions made by each friend, they could positively expect to accrue much business. Amazon-A Social Commerce Success Story It would not be wrong to say that most businesses that have managed to reap social commerce success have managed to do courtesy their proactive approach towards things and their ability to adhere to the basics of social commerce. Amazon is one such big success story. Amazon had indeed been successful in managing social media sites to accrue potential sales. Especially, Amazon had indeed evinced mark adaptability in being able to use social media sites to divert traffic and sales to its own website. Right from the start Amazon well understood the fact that user experience happens to be quiet different on social networking sites (Grimm & Lee, 2006). Hence instead of merely replicating the specific features of its own website on Facebook, Amazon evinced the adaptability to use the tools of the social media sites to attract customers (Grimm & Lee, 2006). The other particular thing about Amazon had been that it set concise and clear goals pertaining to social marketing and social commerce. While its social marketing strategy focused on customer acquisition, its social commerce angel focused on revenue targets (Grimm & Lee, 2006). The other thing about Amazon had been that it did not exclusively relied on social media and instead extended its existing store to register its own social commerce presence (Grimm & Lee, 2006). This enabled Amazon to facilitate an automatic sync between its social commerce options and its own web store. Amazon showed the versatility of adapting to the basic principles of social commerce, while improvising unique strategies that bolstered its own web store. Conclusion Hence, it goes without saying that social commerce is much more than merely registering a brand presence on social websites. It involves a proactive and professional approach towards things that entails relying on certain social media friendly principles and the ability to improvise and innovate in an ever changing market place. Reference List Griffiths, G.H., & Howard, A. 2008. Balancing Clicks and Bricks- Strategies for Multichannel Retailers. Journal of Global Business Issues, 2(1), 69-71. Grimm, C.M., & Lee, H. (2006). Strategy as Action. New York: Oxford University Press. Harden, L & Heyman, B. 2010. Marketing by the Numbers. New York: AMACOM. Hensle, K & Deis, M.H. (2010). Using Social Media to Increase Advertising and Improve Marketing. Entrepreneurial Executive, 15(1), 87-89. Massetti, B.L. 2008. The Social Entrepreneurship Matrix as a “Tipping Point” for Economic Change. Emergence: Complexity and Organization, 10(3), 1-3. Shen, J. (2012). Social Comparison, Social Presence, and Enjoyment in the Acceptance of Social Shopping Websites. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 13(3), 198-202. The New Face of Retail. (November 30, 2011). Marketing, 18. Read More