Shopping almost entirely social experience

This article was originally posted on 29 September, 2011

This probably won’t come as any major surprise, but it’s been reported that consumers are far more likely to trust their friends and family than retailers, when it comes to deciding what to buy, according to research we’ve read recently.  This got us thinking about how important it is therefore to ramp up reviews and the visibility of ‘social shopping’ on your e-commerce website.

While 70 per cent of shoppers rate friends’ recommendations as important, just 28 per cent value recommendations from a shop assistant.  Nearly two-thirds value consumer reviews, and 35 per cent the media, the survey of 1,200 people found.

Social commerce and the use of mobile technology play an increasingly important part of the decision-making process for shoppers, with 39 per cent making a journey to Facebook when researching a purchase decision and 38 per cent reaching for their smartphone while browsing in a high street store.

Nearly 90 per cent look at consumer reviews before making a purchase, and more than two thirds said they had more confidence in those reviews when they could see bad as well as good reviews.  The value of independent feedback becomes even more important when shoppers are considering buying from small, or lesser known online sellers.

This latest research paints a fascinating picture of the buying process that is almost entirely based on social interaction.  It’s more likely therefore that someone making a purchase will trust the opinions of those closest to them.  As established social channels become ever more sophisticated, and new channels materialise, one trend that is emerging is the importance of influencing, rather than controlling the purchase process.  It’s not uncommon to see sales increases of more than 20 per cent where social content is put into practice in a useful way.  The responsibility is very much on the retailer to offer service that we want to tell our friends about.