every channel every angle ISSN 1362-2315 Issue 193 July/August 2011 Facing up to Facebook


Shopping via social networks is gaining traction with UK consumers, if a recent study by eDigitalResearch and IMRG is to go by. It found that out of 2,000 survey respondents, 15 percent had been influenced to make a purchase through adverts, groups and discussions on social networking sites. Further, 4 percent of respondents had bought directly from a Facebook store. Although the figure is small, Derek Eccleston, research director at eDigitalResearch, believes it is significant: “The fact that almost 4 percent of UK consumers have already made a purchase directly through Facebook, despite there only being a limited number of Facebook stores, indicates the extent at which consumers are eager to use emerging channels to browse and shop.” He adds that “it is important that retailers put into place the necessary steps to facilitate this.”


Turning fans into customers Among UK retailers, apparel etailer Asos claims


to have been the first to launch a transactional Facebook store, in January 2011. Since then, sportswear retailer JD Sports, nursery products etailer Kiddicare, and British fashion brand Lyle & Scott, among others, have all gone live with F-commerce capabilities. What’s more, a report by ecommerce platform provider ChannelAdvisor found that apparel retailers are leading the way on Facebook when it comes to turning customers into fans. Topshop has more than 1,400,000 fans, with New Look, River Island, Asos, Next, and Net-a-Porter making up the rest of the top six.


When you factor in data from


Experian Hitwise that estimates each new fan on Facebook drives 20 additional visits to a retail website, growing the Facebook fan base certainly seems like a wise marketing move. Experian Hitwise monitored UK internet visits to the top


News


pages 2-9 MBO at Cosyfeet, record turnover projected at BeautyBay.com, CSN Stores to extend international reach


Tactics


pages 10-24 A focus on getting set for Christmas, plus tips on benefit-driven photography and customer acquisition


100 retailers online and benchmarked that data against the number of Facebook fans each of those retailers had. Aggregating the data over a 12-month period showed retailers would receive an extra 20 visits for each additional fan acquired. It also estimated that the top retailers, even if they have no fans, can expect to receive 62,000 visits from Facebook each month.


But before you jump in


with a Facebook store in a bid to turn that extra traffic into sales, consider this from Forrester Research. Data collected by Forrester and Shop.org for two years showed that social networks “fail to drive meaningful revenue… have questionable ROI, and are generally ineffective as customer acquisition tools.” Forrester estimates that Facebook stores account for less than 1 percent of revenue for retailers with a well- established online presence.


Test and measure With so many conflicting


reports as to the value of a fan, or the real revenue driven by the social network, Debra Ellis of Wilson & Ellis


Consulting, warns against becoming seduced by Facebook. “The time may come that F-commerce is the people’s choice for online shopping. Until then, smart marketers are testing the waters without investing heavily in something that may never be a viable business model,” she says. Ellis’s advice is to measure and be aware of what those


metrics mean. “Track your sales so you can effectively budget future investments. Track your customers to measure the effect of social networking on lifetime value and lifespan.” The key word, as usual, is test. “If you have an active Facebook fan base, you should definitely test F-commerce but don’t shoot yourself in the foot when you do it.”


sponsored by Operations & Fulfilment


bonus supplement A roundup of post and parcel carriers, advice on switching fulfilment suppliers, and packaging options


By Miri Thomas


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