Social commerce solutions deliver measurable benefits for retailers
Social commerce solutions are delivering substantial, measurable business benefits despite the current economic situation, according to new figures released by social commerce company Reevoo.
Reevoo said its partner Jessops has seen social commerce tools drive conversion rates up by 10 to 15% and that the level of business conducted online has increased from 8% to 28% in just 18 months. Another partner, Dixons Retail, saw customer satisfaction with its ecommerce site improve by 6% in the last nine months thanks to its social commerce-enabled site.
Such figures, against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions, are commonplace among retailers and brands that are successfully adjusting to changing consumer purchasing behaviour, according to Richard Anson, Reevoo founder and CEO.
“Over the past five years the consumer purchase journey has changed hugely; we now refer to it as the social purchase journey. People interact with each other, with brands, and with social content via the web, mobile, Facebook and in-store for example. But the critical fact to grasp is that there is no single, controllable journey; customers can choose to use any channel, at any point in their decision-making, and at any time,” he said.
“This change brings a huge opportunity for brands to inject trust, and trusted social content, at all touchpoints, in order to influence consumers in a trusted, transparent manner. Retailers like Jessops and Dixons Retail, which are embracing the social purchase journey, are enjoying positive benefits even in these difficult times – and it’s Reevoo’s mission to bring these benefits to as many retailers and brands as we can,” he added.
Esther Soto, head of ecommerce strategy at Dixons Retail, said: “Customer decision making and purchasing has changed, in three main ways. First: our customers are being much more careful when they purchase a product, and they’re researching much more than they used to do. Secondly, the traditional concept of a shopping journey doesn’t really exist anymore. What our customers have now is a number of touch points, and they interact with us when and how it suits them. On top of this, mobile and other alternative channels have just added a layer of complexity.”
Sean Emmett, marketing and ecommerce director at Jessops, said: “People used to use Jessops to research products, but didn’t always go on to buy from us. We’ve increased the amount of advice, reviews, and content on our site so that when customers do their research at Jessops they then go on to actually purchase either online, or through our stores. The big advantage for Jessops is that a lot of customers still prefer to actually come in store to make the final purchase: we find that over 60% of our orders are actually researched and placed online, and then collected in store. Providing the best multi-channel experience is great for Jessops because it allows us to continue their journey, adding further advice and value to the customer when they pick their camera up from our stores.”
Reevoo has published a new ebook detailing the intricacies of the new social purchase journey. The Social Purchase Journey ebook is freely available from the Reevoo website.
