Why social shopping?

Although 70% of purchase decisions are made by shoppers at the point of purchase, and 68% might be unplanned, the only growth area in retail is online. It is the first port of call for information in general and product information specifically. It’s also where most shoppers look for promotions and money off - visits to voucher code sites such as money expert have rocketed in the last 18 months.

In the 12 months to August 2009 they had increased 47.5% according to Experian Hitwise. True shopper marketing has to integrate the influence of online channels on shopper behaviour as smart devices proliferate and by 2011 it is expected that the 98% mobile penetration amongst adults will split evenly between those that are smart phones with online access and those that have not. This split is likely to be amplified amongst younger adult ssoegments - the more avid shoppers. Moving forward, every savvy shopper will have online access at his or her fingertips whilst shopping offline.

To capitilise on this growth The Market is offering a new service to complement that which we currently offer – online shopper marketing. We are going to refer to this as Social Shopping and see it as being the way in which you can harness the insight gained from the digital fusion of social media and online shopping.

The Social Shopping Concept

Social Shopping is the result of the impact Web 2.0 is having on Ecommerce - both of which have risen in terms of importance over the last 3 years, but are now going to experience convergence due to the explosion in smart mobile devices. This is not just about shopping online but evaluating and integrating the insights gained online and applying them to shopper behaviour across all channels.

The distinction of shopping online or offline is extinct. The key challenge is evaluating and understanding the impact each has upon the other in determining shopper behaviour.

Social Shopping = Social Media + Online Shopping

Social Shopping services – Let’s talkshop

We consider a number of dimensions when planning our social shopping campaigns.

• Market Trending - How are online channels being used by shoppers to assess brand and product trends? What’s hot!
• Product Pricing and Retail Reputation - How do shoppers compare prices and availability across outlets and reputation for service, delivery, returns etc. Channels include: moneysupermarket.co.uk, reviewcentre.co.uk.
• Shopper Opinions - Getting to know what other people think. Crowd sourcing knowledge from peers and prosumers/mavens. Channels include: twitter, facebook.
• Online Promotions and Offers - As well as getting the best price where do I go to find out the best offers and vouchers? Eg Groupon, Vouchercode.co.uk, foursquare.com.

Our Services include:

• Social media strategy
• Online PR
• Outreach & engagement campaigns
• Content generation