Social(izing) During the Holidays
According to The Purchase Path of Online Buyers, a joint study from Forrester Research and GSI Commerce, less than 2 percent of all e-commerce sales in a five-and-half week period during last year's holiday season were tied to social URLs (the report analyzed data captured from online retailers between Nov. 12 and Dec. 20). More traditional online marketing channels such as email and search are consistently outperforming social media when it comes to driving online purchases, the report concluded.
"I don't think that social drives direct sales," says Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president, principal analyst at Forrester Research. "It does a lot to potentially drive more relevant experiences to consumers, but the sales benefits are usually 'small wins.'"
Mulpuru singled out Best Buy as a company that's effectively using social media. But again, it's not necessarily about driving sales for the electronics retailer. Best Buy uses Twitter as a support forum for its customers, with over 2,500 of its employees signed up for its Twelpforce. For Best Buy it's about listening to and better serving its customers via social media, not using the various platforms to push out products and promotions.
As for what consumers can expect to see from retailers in the social media space this coming holiday season, Mulpuru believes more Facebook "Like" integrations are on the horizon, along with the ubiquitous "Share" button plastered throughout the shopping experience in all channels.
What's not yet known is the impact social media will have on retailers' 2011 holiday sales. One way or the other, I think it's a safe bet it will be a hot topic of conversation in the retail industry come 2012.
